On this 4th of July weekend, we look back, give thanks and remember that no nation in history has a past more concerned and connected to bringing freedom to people than America. From the beginning of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, our founders saw freedom as a God given right that should be defended,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
This focus on freedom and liberty has defined the American spirit and led our nation to have a profound influence on world history. The love for freedom has led Americans to defend it around the world in battles that have cost the lives of untold thousands in a series of wars. That love for freedom helped create the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor that welcomed millions of freedom-loving people from around the world. That same love for freedom led the architects of American democracy to place the Statue of Freedom on top of our Capital Dome in Washington as a reminder that our laws and government was committed to maintaining and protecting freedom for our nation.
But in the last few years our nation has exhibited signs that many do not understanding what freedom is all about. This conflict over defining and applying freedom to our lives has created a moral civil war between right and wrong, good and evil that is growing each year. Can you see it? Issues like abortion and what defines marriage have divided our nation in ways few thought possible just a few years ago. So this 4th of July is a good time to look back and ask some hard questions about the meaning and definition of freedom and not only what our founders had in mind, but more importantly how freedom is understood by the Lord and how that freedom is to be lived out in our lives.