Generally when I write a post on a specific holiday -such as the post I wrote during the Christmas season- I like to put some kind of twist into it that will make people think about it long after they’ve finished reading. Sometimes that proves a bit difficult. However, there are not many approaches to holidays -such as the 4th of July- that have not already been used; and used quite frequently for that matter. So what I’m going to do is take an approach that has been used quite often in my experiences and see if I can put some kind of unique spin on it. Hopefully, you will be forgiving should I fail miserably with this one.
Every year on the fourth day of the seventh month, citizens scattered all across the U.S. gather together to celebrate the day when America became a free country and we earned our independence as one nation, under God. Today, with so much opposition toward our faith and freedom, it’s easy to lose sight of those things which were once so important to us. It’s in those times when we really need someone to turn us back toward where our focus should be. Today, I’m going to offer my assistance in helping you reset your focus. I’m going to give you a new kind of take on a celebration of freedom.
Whilst I was searching for something inspirational to say that would be fitting for this particular post, I came across this verse:
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit.
~Psalm 51:12
So often we not only take our physical freedom for granted, but our spiritual freedom -that is, our salvation. When this happens, the results are dangerous -and sometimes deadly- to the church. We end up with shallow, selfish, church-going Christians with no interest in sharing the gospel with others. When the excitement and fire of being a new Christian burns out and we allow ourselves to be distracted by the things of this world and take our focus off of spending time in prayer and in the Word, we find ourselves becoming more and more lackadaisical in our duties as Christians. Our churches no longer have that excitement and passion they once did, and regardless of all the activities and classes being added to our churches to draw in more members, congregational attendance is diminishing and we seem to be driving more and more people away from our churches rather than to them. Why is this? Because when we lose the joy of our salvation we become boring, dried-up, dead people, no different than the lost of our world.
Many people who have converted to Christianity from their pagan religions have been amazed at how we could treat church and our religious freedoms here in America as if it were no big deal. So many of them risk being tortured, imprisoned or worse, by gathering together to worship The Lord or being found with a Bible in their possession. They can’t seem to wrap their minds around how we could be so dull and pessimistic and complain about every little thing when we have found the freedom of salvation. And on top of that, we also still have the freedom in this country to gather together and worship The Lord, and publicly profess our faith without fear of execution or imprisonment. How then is it possible that we could be so discontent within our churches when others are filled with such joy and excitement and a passion to serve Christ in the midst of their dismal situations? It all boils down to this: joy is a choice. When we shut out the distractions around us and the things of this world vying for our attention; and turn our focus back on God, then -and only then- will our joy be restored to us. We need revival in this country; we need to delight ourselves in The Lord, not in the things of this world; we need to turn our eyes away from the world and focus them on God Almighty. Let today be a celebration not only of our freedom as a nation, but of the freedom Christ gave to us when he delivered us out of the bondage of our sin.
Let it be our prayer that the joy of His salvation may once again be restored unto us.
Happy Freedom Day!
-Abby
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Thanks for the reminder to "not take our freedom granted" , Abby! When I read your post, I immediately thought of 2 Chron. 7:14, which says, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." May that be true for our country! – Abigail
Abby, that was truly wonderful! It really makes you think! We often times do take our freedom for granted. What you said was very true. Thank you for that. We miss you and love y’all!! Tell the family hi for me!!!