FREEDOM
As I sit here writing this blog, I hear thunder and fireworks. My sons’ dog is only a little over a year old, but is so scared of loud noises. He is currently hiding in my shower. Poor guy! It is July 4th. The day we celebrate our freedom in this country of the Unites States.
We have seen our freedom in action the last month. People peacefully protesting, wanting a better way of life and thought. But we do not have the freedom, as some have thought, to loot, destroy property and steal. The freedom in this country was founded on our forefathers and based on the belief that God reigns all mighty. The freedom; to go about our daily lives and do the many tasks and jobs, that we have gone to school and college to become what our dreams urge us to do. We have the freedom to assemble together as a church family. This freedom has been taken away from us by an invisible war which has taken the very breath out of our lungs, setting some free, by death, of their earthly body into a spiritual body. Where I attend church, we are back to assembling together. Only meeting for an hour on Sunday. We are six feet apart, wearing masks and no hugs or handshakes. That is so hard for me. This invisible war is keeping us captive from the freedom to worship.
My neighbor across the street, like many others, has his flag out. As I was watching its beauty waving in the wind, I started to think about how beautiful that flag is and the beauty of what the colors represent. I looked up on google, why those colors were chosen for the flag. No one knows for sure. But what has been brought down through the generations reveal, what the red, white and blue stand for.
- RED-hardiness-valor-sacrifice-blood of those who died for our freedom
- WHITE-purity-innocence of a new country
- BLUE-color symbolizing the Chief, the leader-vigilance, perseverance and justice
I started thinking that these three colors also symbolize our freedom through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.
- RED-Jesus died on a cruel cross. His red blood flowed from His beaten body, as He struggled to carry the cross that He was going to be nailed on leading to His death. He sacrificed Himself for you and me. This leads to our freedom from sin and into eternal life with Him when we leave this earth. Romans 5:6-9 reads “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet for perhaps for a good man someone would dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 John 3:16 reads “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” RED-blood for those who died for our freedom. Jesus died for our freedom from sin and the freedom of a life eternal!
- WHITE- What do you think of when you think of the word white. I think of something clean-pure like a new born innocent baby. I think of, in the winter, the snow falling to the ground. When it starts piling up and nothing has walked or driven across it; how beautiful, sparkling and clean it looks as the sun shines on it. 1 John 5-7 reads, “This is the message that we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Isaiah 1:16-18 reads “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” We become clean, white, when we are in God’s light, by Christ purging our sin and we become clean, as the freshly fallen snow, by Jesus blood. That sounds strange doesn’t it? But by Jesus giving His blood to flow down the cross, He in turn gave us the chance to be pure & clean from out past sin! Washing us clean and giving us the freedom of a new life in Him! WHITE-freedom to be cleansed from our sin and become like the freshly fallen white snow!
- BLUE-Blue is my favorite color from the spectrum of colors that God has given us. Blue is the color of royalty, the Chief. 1 Peter 2:4-19 reads “…chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…(God speaking, quoted in Isaiah 28) behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame…But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you might proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Jesus is that chief cornerstone. In ancient times, the cornerstone was placed first and the other stones built from and on it, so the building would be strong. That is the same for our spiritual lives. We must keep our focus always on Jesus and build our lives beside and around that chief cornerstone. In 1 Peter 5:4 it tells us that Jesus is also called the Chief Shepherd and “we will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” When someone is a chief, they are who we look for direction. Someone who will give us justice. Someone who will help us to persevere even in the middle of a pandemic! BLUE-the color that shows that through Jesus we have strength, guidance, direction, justice and freedom from this world through Him!
RED-WHITE-BLUE When I look at the flag, I think of freedom to be a Christian and the ability to serve Him. I think of our United States. We are becoming farther and farther from the original values and original purpose of those colors on our flag, that our forefathers chose many years ago. But take courage in the fact that we still have the freedom to follow our Lord and Savior and become the light in this dark world. We have all been made free from our sins by Jesus blood. There is no distinction of the race, color, dialect of those who were bought with that price Jesus paid for all. Galatians 3:28 reads, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Christ has given that freedom to all of us, no matter who we are.
What do you think of when you look at the flag? Just some things to think about.
Till next time! Keela