We are one week away from the 4th of July. How does your family celebrate? Could it be apple pie, homemade ice cream, and fireworks? Do you reflect on why the thirteen colonies wrote the Declaration of Independence? We must remember that the Revolutionary War began before it was penned.
If the war had already started, why did they write this? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to write this declaration before the war in the hope that it would prevent it? War is always ugly. They wrote this letter to show England our unity.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
and that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
– The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776”
On July 4, we will celebrate a holiday that most Americans will never understand and the cost and sacrifice of those who went before us. For many of us, this is just a break from the grind of work—a reason to overindulge with food and drink. Very few of us will reflect on the fundamental freedoms. This country fought for the very freedoms that we seem to be willing to give away.
The scripture says that we sojourners that although we may be Americans here on earth, our home is in heaven, and we are just here for a short time. You and I, as followers of Jesus, have dual citizenship. We are temporary citizens of America and eternal citizens of heaven.
And just like the freedoms we have here in America and the cost of those who went before us to give us these freedoms, we have often forgotten the price that Jesus paid on the cross. Jesus fought a war on our behalf so that we could walk in freedom. That war was won when he said, “It is finished.”
On this Fourth of July, between the food and the fireworks, we might reflect on what those who went before us suffered and, at the same time, on the price that Jesus paid so we could be free. Jesus set us free from our sinful hearts.
If you look back at the quote from the Declaration of Independence, it says, “We hold these truths.” It is a letter of unity 13 colonies unified in their decision to break away from England. Look what they accomplished. What if, as Christians, we were unified? What if unity and love were prevalent in our churches today? What can we achieve? Could we end hunger and cure homelessness? What could our unity and love do to depression and anxiety?
1 John 4 says, “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.
This Sunday, we will open up the second Timothy. Paul and Timothy’s hearts showed unity. I’m excited to open God’s word and look at Paul’s exhortation to young Timothy. See you Sunday at 9:30 AM.
In Him,
Pastor Chris