By Pastor Stan L. Rankin
As we celebrate the July 4th holiday this year, we can all be thankful that we live in this wonderful land called the United States of America. Throngs of people from all over the world, have made their way to these shores to live in a land of freedom and opportunity. We realize that we have some gigantic problems and challenges.
Rev. Stan Rankin
Although many would not agree with me or admit it, I believe that the true freedom we enjoy comes from faith in God. It is hard to deny or fail to acknowledge, that the founders of our nation believed this. Many plain references to freedom as a gift from God, can be found in the early writings of those who founded our nation and government. The past few centuries of our history have been filled with challenges and reminders of the importance of preserving that true freedom. Today, we face one of the greatest challenges because of those who seek freedom without any recognition of the God of our fathers. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has created us with the capacity to choose good and evil. He has revealed Himself to us and could force us to obey.
However, He desires a relationship with us, as His creation, that requires the freedom for us to love and obey Him or to reject Him. We are free to choose. However, we are not free to choose the consequences of our choice. When we turn from the source of freedom, we lose the true freedom that God gives to us.
Jesus said, “He who the Son sets free is truly free.” (John 8:36). The truth that sets you free is only found in Jesus. Every chain must fall and every prison door must open when we allow the Son to set us free. For as many as receive Him (Jesus), He gives the power to become the children of God (John 1:12). No longer a slave bound by fear, I am a child of God.
