Casandra Martin

“We must be willing to pay a price for freedom.” – H.L. Mencken

Tomorrow is America’s Independence Day. It is a day that will be celebrated with parades, cookouts, and fireworks. It is a day meant to remind us that freedom is to be cherished and that it comes with a cost. The United States was not easily born. Like all freedom, it came alive in blood and sacrifice.

The ache for freedom runs soul-deep. We see it all over the world. There is a hunger for freedom, a thirst for liberty that continues to spark the human spirit even in the face of oppression and cruelty. This yearning for freedom, however, doesn’t find its roots in politics, economics, or sociology. This desire for freedom is primarily spiritual in nature, even if we don’t recognize God’s fingerprints on its design.

As you celebrate today, stop for a moment and be thankful for those whose vision made the land of the free and the home of the brave a reality. Express your gratitude to the men and women whose daily service allows freedom to ring all over this great land. Pray for our leaders. Embrace the duty of citizenship. Never forget that freedom is never free.

Remember most of all that God was willing to pay a price for your freedom. Enslaved to sin, bound in darkness, we were captive in ways that chained our souls to death. Jesus was willing to pay freedom’s price. It was not easily achieved. Our freedom came alive by blood and sacrifice.

My Jesus Resolution today is to celebrate freedom. I am going to cheer at the parade, salute the flag, and put my hand over my heart at the white grave markers that catalog the cost of freedom. I am going to enjoy the blessings and be thankful for the privileges that come with living in a land so committed to liberty and justice for all. I am also going to pause and be thankful for the most important kind of freedom. The freedom from sin, from fear, and from hopelessness. God wants to ignite that freedom in the heart of every person on the planet. Jesus paid the price. Let freedom ring.