July, 2004 

What About FREEDOM?

With all the recent military activity in Afghanistan and Iraq, our nation is once again finding itself keenly aware of the COST OF FREEDOM.   In order for our nation to enjoy the freedoms we have become accustomed to, there is a cost; a cost not only in dollars, but also in lives.  As the Independence Day holiday approaches, let’s take a moment and ponder what Freedom really means.

As a matter of fact, the Junior Confirmation students (and their parents) at Saving Grace were given this task earlier this year.  As part of their exercise, they were asked to describe what freedom would look like – in a ‘perfect’ world.  Upon further reflection, we discovered that such freedoms (freedom from fear, worry, guilt, etc.) are in fact already available to Christians; we don’t have to wait for our world to achieve perfection, because Perfection has come to us already in Jesus Christ.   We then read John 8:31-34 and heard Jesus say, “you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you FREE.” 

Unlike the military secured freedom that we enjoy in relative peace today, the freedom that comes from Christ, does not have to be fought over and paid for over and over again, but has been paid for once and for all by Jesus on the cross.  The freedom Jesus Christ has won for us, the ULTIMATE Freedom based on the Truth of His Word, cost Jesus His life – but comes to us absolutely FREE!  I encourage you to consider what this FREEDOM Jesus gives means to you.  (You can read elsewhere in this newsletter some of the acrostic poems that the Confirmation students wrote, contemplating the Freedom we have in Christ.)