Today the 4th of July is Independence Day in the USA.  On this day we celebrate the day we became an independent nation.  The Founding Fathers of this Nation declared their independence from the King of England, not wanting to be any longer under the King’s rule.  That sort of thing has been going on for countless years, in that people want to be free to make their own choices and live as they choose.  We call it “freedom”.  But what is freedom, really?

To me, freedom means being able to come and go as I please, without anyone telling me I can’t go there.  It is being able to live where I choose, eat what I choose, and live my life in peace among my fellow man.  But when someone else doesn’t want to live like I want to live, then they want to be independent, that is, separate to make their own choices.  And freedom and independence is nice, until the choices someone else makes starts taking away my freedom, or your freedom.

There was a time when God ruled, when He created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden.  It was a place of heaven on earth, where every possible need they had was met, and there was no sickness or disease, or emnity, or strife or lack of any kind.  Adam and Eve were truly free.  They had rulership over the entire earth and everything in it EXCEPT the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  That, and that only they were told to not eat of the fruit of it, else in that day they would surely die.

Satan came on the scene and basically convinced Adam and Eve to declare their independence from God.  They ate of the forbidden fruit, and thinking they would be set “FREE”, instead they were made slaves and lost their freedom and traded it   for every form of oppression that we see on earth today.  Nothing much has really changed through thousands of years.  People want to be free from having anyone, including God, from telling them what to do. Freedom from God is the price we pay for independence: freedom from His blessings, freedom from His provision, His healing, His forgiveness of sins.  Yeah, that’s independence, alright.  But THAT isn’t the kind of independence I really want.

Yet, we want our cake, and to eat it, too, don’t we?  We don’t want to live according to God’s rules, but rather our own.  Why is it then, when left alone to independence, man can’t live free?  Do you ever pay attention to how our legislators spend several months a year in session to make more laws that constantly take away more and more of our freedom?  Instead of making us MORE free, we are daily becoming LESS free.

God gave us the Holy Bible that tells us how to live.  You will notice that the Bible is not re-written every year to create more laws.  In fact, the Bible is the only true book of Freedom there is.  God created us to have close fellowship with Him, for us to live under His protection, and He didn’t make rules to restrain our freedom, but rather, rules of love to keep evil from robbing our freedom.  So the next time you think about “independence”, remember this: God will not put a leash on you, but rather, remove it totally from you and stay completely out of your life and never tell you what to do, if that’s what you want.  But if you’re smart, you will let God lead and guide you into the only true freedom there is, and that is in Him.

Oh, you can tell God to take a hike, and let the devil run your life for you, and maybe you will THINK you have gained your freedom, but you’ll never be truly free.  You will be servant to destruction, waste and ruin, all your life, for everything Satan touches is spoiled goods, and he is eager to share his “freedom” with you.  OR, you can declare your independence from the devil and his kingdom of darkness.  I tell people, Give God a try, if you don’t like Him, the devil will always take you back.  But once you turn your back on the devil, you will see you were NEVER free in the first place.  If you really want to celebrate Independence Day, then become independent from the devil.  Find out what TRUE FREEDOM is, in Christ Jesus.  It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been messed up serving the devil, you CAN get free from him today, and there’s not a thing the devil can do to stop you.  See, that’s one of the benefits of serving Christ Jesus: He alone has the power to get you free and keep you free.  You have the power to choose whom you will serve.  You will serve either God or Satan, and that is for certain.  Serving God gives you true freedom.  Serving Satan is only a cheap imitation of freedom, it doesn’t last, and though you may enjoy the ride for a short while, you definitely will NOT enjoy the destination in the end.

The Founding Fathers of the USA drew up the Declaration of Independence to notify their oppressor, the King, that they would no longer serve him.  Today, you have the opportunity to declare to YOUR oppressor, Satan, that you will no longer serve him.   Make this Independence Day the day you REALLY get free, choose Christ Jesus as YOUR LORD and Savior!

You’ll never want to be “independent” from God again.