As we prepare to celebrate the July 4^th holiday, we might pause a moment to reflect on what freedom means in our lives as Christians. One could argue that in these United States, the word freedom has become a catch-all word for being “free to do what you want”. And in some respects, that is true. We have been given, or should I say, others have fought and earned them for us and we are the recipients of those freedoms. From a Christian point of view, we also enjoy a freedom that someone else has earned for us. Paul writes about a freedom from the enslavement of sin that has been won for us through the life and death of Jesus Christ. This freedom came at great cost to God and been given to us as a free gift of grace. Cutting directly to the heart of the matter, Paul reminds us that in response to this gift that we are to no longer live as if we are slaves to sin, but instead to live into the freedom of being slaves to righteousness. How might our lives be different if we were to remember daily that we have died to sin and now live for Christ?  Is it possible to live into the freedom of what God has done and still be a person that sins? Have we forgotten who we are and whose we are?

Let us celebrate freedom!  The freedom that has been fought for and the freedom that has redeemed us through Jesus Christ. Let us take none of these freedoms for granted so that our lives might reflect the deep truth that our chains are gone, we have been set free by the One who can make us free, indeed.