Freedom

Every single day, I am grateful. Grateful for my life, for my family, for the love of a precious savior, but also for my freedom. Were it that I lived elsewhere praising and trusting God may be difficult and even deadly.

We had acquaintences, years ago, who chose to serve God in China. We would send them Bibles and necessities they could not find readily. Our packages had to be sealed a certain way and no where on the parcel could there be words like "God, Lord, Jesus, etc." We could email them and I had to pay careful attention to the words I used, including trying to give scripture without really giving scripture. Though it grieved us at home, we also recognized that God was forging a way and people were being saved because of the blessing of our missionary friends there in Asia. We also were well informed that their safety depended upon our discretion, this my friends, makes me daily aware of our freedom that could easily be overlooked.

When we adopted our daughter in China, I sent a baby book in English and in Mandarin. The nannnies at her orphanage were so gracious to fill in as much as they could for us. I was so thankful. I found myself carefully checking the book to ensure they would not be offended by our faith and our trust in Jesus. After waiting two years for our child, I did not want our adoption stalled because we were Bible believing Christians...but the truth is, I also needed them to know we prayed for them as they cared for our child and so many other children. As He always does, He gave me the words that would be a blessing and not a hindrance.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

Both of these examples lead me to the point of this post.
Freedom...our military...honor and remembrance.
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines...it does not matter the branch of the service, it matters the sacrifice they make so that we are able to worship in our churches, our homes, our cars, our entire lives. Their protection of our freedom is a treasure. As we ponder the freedom we have, I think Memorial Day can be a reminder of the freedom we have in Jesus Christ also. He paid the ultimate price, conquered death and His promise for eternal life to all who believe in Him denotes complete freedom. Like our patriotic freedom, this freedom costs me nothing, but it is not cheaply bought. Just as our soldiers serve to make us free, so did Jesus serve to make me free. For eternal freedom we must be born again, transformed into righteousness by the blood of Jesus Christ, and set free from sin and death. When put in those terms, we would be completely remiss to forget anything that has granted us such magnificent liberties.

So today and everyday, God Bless America! Thank you to Jesus for the ultimate price, thank you to our soldiers and their families for the daily sacrifice that protects and grants us our national freedoms. May they truly know the depth of our gratitude...

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2