The Upload
Posted on Jul 04, 2014 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you had a blessed and safe 4th of July.
For most of us, we celebrate on the 4th of July with fireworks, parades, and barbeques. As a national holiday, it marks that date in U.S. history, July 4, 1776, on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
So, I got to wondering this week, did they have huge celebration on July 4, 1776 after this incredible document was signed? Did they shoot off fireworks and have a huge parade in Philadelphia on that historic day? Well, according to all reports in history, the answer is no. No fireworks went off and no celebratory events took place.
According to the history books, on July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and debated whether to adopt the Declaration of Independence. The delegates came from the 13 states, they were no longer colonies, and Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration, was there. Not much else is known. The actual debate was closed to the public and no one wrote down what was said. Even the delegates’ personal letters that were written later revealed nothing about that event. All we know for sure is that the delegates voted to approve the Declaration, and only John Hancock, the president of Congress, signed it. No one else signed that day. Bells did ring throughout Philadelphia that day, but no other celebration took place. Congress had declared American independence, but many battles lay ahead, and even today there are still many battles that this country faces.
Freedom never comes easy, and once one is free, it takes work, hard work, to remain free. As I have said many times, freedom is much more than freedom from a government or from a human captor. For Christians, we know real freedom comes with being freed from sin and death. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another” (5:13). For Christians, being free means we are free to serve the world. Our view of freedom is so much more than physical freedom.
So as we continue to celebrate, this holiday weekend, the freedom our country enjoys as a sovereign nation, let us remember the true freedom that grounds our lives as disciples of Christ, the freedom in Christ to serve others and share the good news, as well as the freedom from those things that keep us from doing so.
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Have a blessed week!
Shalom,
Pastor Dave