Just imagine if George Washington and Thomas Jefferson could see what's become of their country. Would they recognize it?
Today we're a nation where rights replace responsibility. Diversity is celebrated instead of dignity. We do things out of convenience instead of conviction. We know our entitlements but are no longer enlightened by truth.
On top of that, groups like the American Civil Liberties Union seem hell-bent to give us freedom FROM religion instead of the freedom OF religion. What’s going on?
“Well, hold on just a minute! What’s this talk of morals and religion? Isn’t America secular?”
If all you did was listen in History Class, you might think America was founded as a secular nation with government and schools that were religion-free zones. Sadly most Americans have no concept of the religious heritage that made America an exceptional nation.
What we need is a refresher course in true American History. Christian thinking was a major influence for our founding fathers. Take a tour of Washington D.C.’s monuments and over and over you’ll see their quotes from Holy Scripture.
Even the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is imprinted with this quote from the Bible: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
George Washington said, "I am sure there never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition [intervention] in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that…they failed to consider the omnipotence [complete power] of that God who is alone able to protect them."
Thomas Jefferson defended religious instruction at the University of Virginia when he said, "The relations which exist between man and his Maker, and the duties resulting from those relations, are the most interesting and most important to every human being and most incumbent on his study and investigation."
Theodore Roosevelt recognized the need for religious instruction when he said, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
But it was Jesus Christ who said “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Usually you hear that quoted by politicians around election time and they take it completely out of context. It’s not about political freedom or social justice!
In the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 8, Jesus talked about being set free from sin. He said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” After pointing out that we are all slaves to sin, he added, “So if the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
The truth about Jesus Christ is what brings real freedom: Freedom from sin.
This weekend, as we celebrate the blessings of freedom, don’t neglect the greatest freedom of all: Freedom from sin. America cannot provide that freedom. No government can.
Freedom from sin can only be found in the Kingdom of God.
The Bible says that people are set free from bondage to sin by trusting in the truth that Jesus Christ died on the cross in their place. Personally believing in his death, burial and resurrection provides forgiveness of sin and the beginning of a new life. A life free from slavery to sin.
Real freedom starts with The Truth. Not just any truth but the truth about Jesus Christ.
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