You Will Be Free Indeed.

The Fourth of July is our national holiday set aside for the celebration of our great "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave"--and we honor it with parades, barbecues, Stars and Stripes, patriotic music, family, friends, and fireworks.

I spent most of my day yesterday looking out at this view...

...and making (and enjoying) American Flag pavlova...

...and thinking a lot about what it is that makes my America such a happy place to live and American freedom such an exciting thing to celebrate.

Those of you who know me well know that I care deeply about our nation. I am fascinated by its history, government, and politics. I felt a bit like Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the first time I ever saw D.C.. I sometimes watch C-SPAN in my spare time. And I'm at college double-majoring in History and Education because I think I might like to spend the rest of my life educating, empowering, and investing in the lives of high school students who might be the next generation of leaders for this nation.

 

So, yes, I think America is pretty great. (Not that we don't have our flaws). I'm just really grateful that I get to be a part of a nation founded on ideals of liberty with a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

But this American liberty and these freedoms that we hold so dear, were not simply dreamed up by benevolent men and implemented for the sake of their fellow Americans. I firmly believe that God, (and not just any god, but the God of the Bible) was both the active orchestrator and the vital center point of American freedom:

In 1775, Patrick Henry made a call for colonists to trust God in their looming fight for independence: "There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us."

In 1776, our Declaration of Independence made claims for freedom on the basis of "inalienable rights" that were "endowed by their Creator." 

Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin both wanted the fight for American Independence to claim the motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." Instead, a more popular rallying cry of the Revolution rang out across the nation: that America would honor "No King but Jesus!"

Our freedoms exist because our government was founded on the idea that God intended for men to be free. In that sense, I firmly believe that our nation's freedom is only as sure as our reliance on God for His provision of it. So I long for godly leadership for America and pray that our nation will cling to Jesus as Lord.

And I find assurance in the knowledge that whatever the future may hold for my government, my America, and my political freedoms--my ultimate personal freedom is dependent on Jesus alone. And that freedom is freedom from the law of sin and death (which is even more exciting than freedom from tyranny if you ask me!).

"For the law of the Spirit has set you FREE from the law of sin and death."

Romans 8:2

"For FREEDOM in Christ has set you FREE; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
Galatians 5:1


"So if the Son sets you FREE you will be FREE indeed."
John 8:36

So I celebrate freedom, both the political freedom of our nation and the Gospel that forms the foundation of it.  And I rejoice that the glory of the Calvary offers the profound, awe-inspiring, all-encompassing freedom of new life in Jesus. The Son has set me free; I am free indeed.

Whether in Ireland or in Alabama

On June 11th, I boarded a plane bound for Dublin, leaving behind my home, my friends, my country--just about all I'd ever known. I was excited about what lay ahead for me, but I knew little of what to expect of my time in Ireland.

Yesterday, I boarded my return flight and left behind incredible new friends, beautiful countryside, sweet fellowship, innumerable blessings, and a little piece of myself. I never dreamed I could grow to love a place or people so very much in such a short time. To say it was hard to leave Ireland would be the understatement of the year--but I know that I left changed for the better by the three weeks I spent there.

In the coming days I'll post more about my adventure in Ireland--it was so richly filled with blessings that I want to record.

But for now, I'm writing about my flight back from Dublin.

The trans-Atlantic flight lasted eight hours and I spent it happily re-reading one of my very favorite books, John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. In his book, Piper writes that "God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display [Christ's] supreme excellence in all spheres of life." Reading those words, I was reminded of all the ways that I was blessed with nearly constant encouragement to live out the good news of the Gospel of Grace in my daily life over these past few weeks. (To all of you who have loved me and encouraged me in that way, I can't thank you enough.)

But reading that call to place the blazing glory of the cross at the center of my existence also made me think about the difficulty of allowing Christ to reign as pre-eminent even in the midst of the ordinary ebb and flow of daily life. All too often I allow myself to be distracted from the ultimate importance of the cross. Insignificant activities and little responsibilities all too often and all too quickly take up residence as the center of my focus. And I don't think that I'm alone in this battle. 

Writing on the condition of modern professing Christians, David Wells writes that despite proclaiming belief in God's existence, many people "nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers' sweet fog of flattery and lies." What a tragic commentary that offers on the state of ourselves that we might consider the almighty God of the universe to be less interesting than the mindlessness of television. What sort of message do our lives send to the world around us when we only allow Jesus a space at the periphery of our existence?

As I am returning to the normalcy and routine of daily life here at home, I want to be intentional about placing Christ at the center of my identity and my existence. I want to reject my sinful tendency to allow Jesus to take a backseat to the daily distractions of the world around me. I long for my life to be proof that my Jesus is more precious than life.

Despite my best intentions, I know that at times my sinful nature will interrupt my focus on the glory of the cross. But I set out to place Christ at the very center of all that I am with the assurance that even when I fail, his love for me is unfailing. And it is the beauty of this redemptive love that demands my life, my all, whether I am away in Ireland or at home in Alabama.

All Things New.

With parties, fireworks, and the ball that drops in Times Square, we celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of the next. There is something uniquely beautiful about a year that has not yet had its time to collect its sorrows or disappointments. Something enticing about the newness of a year filled only with hope and possibilities.

Last night I got to spend my New Year's Eve with my family and a few good friends watching the Vanderbilt and Auburn bowl games and then playing Spades at my kitchen table. It was a simple celebration, but I couldn't have been much happier. As the hours passed and midnight approached, we carefully checked the time to make sure we would be ready to welcome the new year. But when the clock turned from 11:59  to 12:00 and 2011 became 2012, the remark was made that the turn to the new year was "anti-climactic".

Anti-climactic. It definitely was. The world did not end, as the Mayan calendar predicted, with the coming of 2012. And life did not feel any different than it did last year. I couldn't help but think about how funny it is that we stay up to watch the clock change when, in fact, the new year is not inherently different from the old.

So it is not a tangible difference that draws us to celebrate, instead it is our fascination with the idea of what a "new" year means. We like the idea that with a new year we begin with a fresh slate and leave the failures and mistakes of an old year behind us.

And we like the idea that even though we begin this new year as broken and imperfect people, that a fresh start offers the opportunity for change and self-improvement. In fact, we like this idea so much that 45% of the population makes New Year's Resolutions to promise changes in the coming months. 34% of people set resolutions related to money and another 38% of people set resolutions regarding weight loss. But these promises to improve often fall short. As people we are flawed, so even in the face of the promise of a new year, only 8% of people regularly meet the goals of their resolutions.

In this world broken and tainted by sin, the promise of newness is wonderfully appealing. But in this life, the promise of a new year, in and of itself, will never be satisfying. For in this new year, time marches on as it always does and happiness and triumphs are often accompanied by sorrows and failures. Such is the reality of life in our imperfect world.

But there is a promise of newness that does not disappoint:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant." Hebrews 9:15

"But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." 2 Peter 3:13

"And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”" Revelation 21:5


We have a God who is making all things new. And through our surrender to Jesus, we will be made as new creations, no longer dead in our sins but newly alive in Christ. And for those who are in Jesus, we are also promised a new heavens and a new earth that will replace this broken world.

Although a new year is not tangibly different from the old, and 2012 will surely have its share of both joys and sorrows (just as every year before it has always had), we are promised the chance to be made new in a beautifully transformative and permanent way. The promise of new life in Christ is not transient, but a lasting reality both in this lifetime and in eternity.

So in this new year of 2012 I want to place my focus on things that matter and place my hope in the lasting promise of new life through my Jesus.