Today’s Devotional: “Christian Freedom”

Tomorrow is July 4th, a day when we celebrate our nation’s independence from the tyranny of an oppressive regime. Because of this, America is known as the land of the free and the home of the brave. It’s also a land governed by a constitution and laws designed to protect individual rights.

Yet, when formed, it was based on God and the truth found in His word.

We’ve strayed far from these principles, and Americans are now more concerned with their rights than with doing what is right. When doing right is superseded by our personal rights to do wrong, a shift has occurred from morality to rights.

And we’re doing the same thing the children of Israel did, doing what is right in our own eyes rather than what is right in God’s eyes. And today we’re suffering the consequences.

But this doesn’t have to be our final outcome. We can repent; we can turn back to God and ask for His forgiveness, knowing He will hear our prayer and heal what we’ve so badly wounded.

“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 will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

When we follow the Lord, we’ll become free. But freedom doesn’t mean the absence of constraints or moral absolutes. This may shock many, because whenever constraints are mentioned, people automatically assume a loss of freedom.

Consider a skydiver. If he decides not to use a parachute to experience the freedom of falling, the end will be messy. Gravity governs the skydiver, whether he likes it or not. However, if he chooses to use the constraint of a parachute, he’ll enjoy the exhilaration of the fall without the messy consequences.

God’s moral laws work the same way: they restrain, but they’re absolutely necessary for enjoying freedom.