“Fix your eyes on things above, not on earthly things, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 3:2

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident.”

“When in the course of human events.”

“Four score and seven years ago.”

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

It’s pretty certain that you recognize the above quotes. Each one of them is a familiar, famous, and foundational excerpt from a document or speech that helped form and guide our nation. Each of them contributed mightily to helping make our nation what it is today. For this we are incredibly grateful.

What about the following quotes:

“If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.”

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”

“For freedom, Christ has set you free.”

“The law of the Spirit has set you free in Christ Jesus.”

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Do you recognize those? I certainly hope so. They are inspired words, conveyed by Christ or by those in whom the Spirit breathed, and through whom The Lord spoke.

While the first set of statements pertain to our country’s freedom, the second are essential and foundational for eternal freedom in Christ’s Kingdom. And that’s a significant difference. While it is appropriate and important as good citizens for us to celebrate 250 years of this country’s independence, it is absolutely essential to celebrate our eternal freedom in Christ–EVERY DAY. The truth is that though we may not, as a nation, be under the tyrannical yoke of an English king—or any other monarch or country for that matter–each of us are in bondage to our own selfish and self-centered thoughts, desires, ideas, and ideologies. We are servants of the false self. No earthly government can free us from the bonds of that servitude.  Only Christ can. Only Christ has! He has brought us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. He has created us to be His children, and called us to follow Him, and live in His Kingdom—a Kingdom that had no beginning, for it always was, and a kingdom that shall never end, for it always shall be.

I invite you therefore, as you celebrate the many freedoms that come from living as citizens of the United States, to keep in your mind and heart the glorious freedom so graciously granted in and through the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.