Finding the Way Home
The eNewsletter Archive

Below is the archived version of Marshall Hayden's eNewesletter "Finding the Way Home." If you would like to be added to to mailing list, please send a blank email to evangelism-subscribe@worthingtoncc.org.

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July 2007

Danger! Warning! Handle with Care!

Just a minute ago I opened up my desk drawer and read these words on a tube of wood finish stain marker that I have used to touch up the places on the desk that I have bumped with the chair over the last fifteen years or so. And it struck me that I had stumbled across a way to talk about the important theme that will occupy our thoughts this July 4 week.

Memorial Day and Independence Day come hard on the heels of each other; and that’s a very good thing. For over a month it guides our minds to some very serious matters that we all too often take for granted. Just what is freedom, and the cost of it; and how shall we handle the enormous blessing of it gratefully?

It seems to me that the order of these national holidays is the right one. The first honors those who have hazarded their lives, and especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The second celebrates the result of their service – freedom.

But that’s where the danger comes in. Freedom is loaded – loaded with privilege, loaded with incomparable possibility, and loaded with potential for great harm. In the New Testament both Peter and Paul address the issue from a spiritual perspective. “Live as free men; but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil: live as servants of God. Show proper respect for everyone: love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king” (I Peter 2:16-17). “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13).

The men and women who have been part of the armed services of this remarkable nation have not laid their lives on the line and put many of their own dreams and home lives on hold so that we should blandly go about doing whatever we might think we wish. That’s not freedom! That’s license! And God did not sacrifice the life of His Son in order for us to go about doing whatever we might impulsively and selfishly wish, but that we might go about learning to do what He wishes, and enjoy the fulfillment and the satisfaction of that, as well as the hope that comes when we surrender our destiny to His Christ.

Freedom isn’t free. That’s for sure. It costs. It comes with directions. And it can be wonderful indeed. This week, as a part of your celebration, in addition to letting the fireworks spark your gratitude and warm your heart, how about saying thanks to someone or to someone’s family, who has made a serious and sacrificial contribution. And how about bowing before God the Maker and God the Savior, offering your highest patriotism!