Let freedom ring!

Only two people in all of humankind’s history ever experienced freedom that was without cost, but that lasted only a little while.

Adam and Eve were created by God with real freedom. No one had to fight and die for the freedom they were created with. But once they fell to sin, freedom would always have a cost for all who would follow.

This snippet from “Behind the Scenes” is a reminder of freedom’s cost …

• Elizabeth Keckley was a slave in Missouri before the Civil War. Her greatest desire was to purchase freedom for herself and her son. Her owner agreed that if she could raise $1,200 she could gain her freedom. Keckley worked as a seamstress and came up with a plan to go to New York City and work there to raise the money, but her owner feared that she would not return.

Instead, some of her wealthy clients in St. Louis contributed the money she needed, and Elizabeth Keckley paid the price for her freedom as well as her son’s. She moved to Washington, DC, where she counted Mary Lincoln among her dressmaking clients. Without the help of someone else, Keckley would never have been able to purchase her freedom.

As Americans celebrate the birth of our nation this 4th of July, we’re reminded of the men known as our “Founders” who had the courage to take on a king across the pond for the sake of freedom. We’re reminded of those who would fight the armies of that king to obtain our liberty and make possible a great new experiment in freedom..

Like Keckley, without the help of someone else, we would not be free to celebrate our nation’s birthday today. Men and women have fought and died to keep us free, and have traveled around the globe to help others gain their freedom as well.

And like Keckley, without the help of someone else, we would not be spiritually free. To obtain our truest and greatest freedom — the freedom from sin and it’s consequences of death — Jesus Christ would have to offer Himself as the supreme sacrifice for all humanity.

We have all needed the help of someone else to be free.

Today, in more ways than one, we can celebrate that that help has come so that you and I can celebrate freedom in every way — freedom from sin and death, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom from tyranny, freedom to worship as we choose, and simply freedom to be!

Happy birthday America, let freedom ring!

Scotty