Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery "Before the Lord Jesus Christ, man was enslaved…" Hello, and welcome back to the One Thing Podcast. We are close to Fourth of July weekend: the day where we celebrate in the nation of America our independence. This reminded of the verse in the Word of the Lord in Galatians five, verse one. It says: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

"Christ has set us free that we would be free to love the Father." Before the Lord Jesus Christ, man was enslaved– enslaved by every sinful desire, every wicked rebellion in his heart toward God to say, “God I want to live my own life, I want to do my own thing,” where man would accept maybe some pieces of religion, but yet deny the true power that goes past religion and allows us to truly overcome our sin and to live for God. But, I rejoice today! As I think of Fourth of July, I want to not just celebrate our independence as a nation, but really celebrate the freedom that Jesus has brought– the freedom that when we trust in His mighty name, no longer are we enslaved to the wicked, evil desires of our own sinfulness and sinful ways. But, God has declared independence today for those in Christ. We are set free from the yoke of slavery, set free to no longer be burdened to our sinful nature to have to carry it out, but today it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

"He burst from the grave so that we would also follow along in freedom from death…" Our freedom is for one purpose: not to continue to live for our own wills, our own desires or agendas, but Christ has set us free that we would be free to love the Father. We would be free to seek Him and actually hear Him. We would be free not only to think of the right thing to do, not only to hear of the right thing to do according to the Word of God, but actually do it. We are free today.

As we celebrate this Fourth of July weekend, I pray that we would be stopping also, looking at the fireworks and remembering that Christ went to the cross, and greater, bigger than any firework that we could ever see, He burst from the grave so that we would also follow along in freedom from death, freedom from our sin, and now able to live for the Kingdom of God. Happy Independence Day, not only for our nation, but happy Independence Day that today, as the Lord says, “It is for freedom that I set you free.” May we turn to Him, may we remember His goodness and thank Him for such a wonderful independence that we can love the Father as He has loved us.