July 4, 2023

Scripture: 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.”

Scripture: Galatians 5:13 – ““For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

What it means

Happy birthday America! As we celebrate the birthday of our country on July 4, we should hopefully be reminded of the fact that we live in a free land.  That’s all that we have ever known, so while it’s easy to take that fact for granted, we should still spend at least a few minutes between bites of our hot dogs and hamburgers and thank God for keeping us free! However, as the apostle Paul reminds us, with freedom comes responsibility.  In his letter to the church at Galatia, he reminded them at least twice of that fact…particularly in verse 13.  It is sometimes tempting to give into fleshly desires and use our freedom for harm, but he implores us that we should do just the opposite – and in doing so, successfully serving our brothers and sisters who might need some help.

What it means to me

This actually kind of goes along with the sermon that we had yesterday, in which the authors of The Chosen tell us that there are times in our Christian walk when we are called to stand firm in our faith – not run, nor come out swinging, but to simply stand our ground in who we are, what we believe, etc.  We can do this in a kind way if we put our minds to it.  Along with having freedom, we are also given many choices in life – we are free to take different roads in the many forks that we encounter.  Some are good, and some not so much…our job is to choose wisely, and not use our freedom for selfish reason, or in a manner that causes harm to others.  No, we are to use our freedom to honor God in all we say and all we do.  Guess what – that brings a smile to the face of God! Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s another hot dog with my name on it 😊

Love you guys, talk to you on Thursday!

In Christ,

Brian