We Declare....(Part II)

In the Declaration of Independence, our forefathers declared, "....that (men) are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

These guys (Duck Dynasty) have something to say!!

 
In my last post (We Declare...Part I) I related to that wonderful gift called life given to us by our Creator. Today I am jotting my thoughts on the right of liberty. In this series of posts, I Declare, I am interchanging the terms gifts and rights. I believe our forefathers did not want to withhold (or feel it was not correct in doing so) those gifts that God has bestowed on His children. We have the "right" to them.

When we read that we are endowed with "the right to liberty", we think of a free society, not being controlled by the government. Yes, I do believe our forefathers intended this, but this freedom comes from a greater root. God has given us the gift of freedom through His Son, Jesus Christ. We are each born sinful. (Psalm 51:5) Sin enslaves a person in that there is no good found in him. (Romans 3:12) Sin is opposition to our Creator, the God who gave us life. We inherited it from Adam (the first man to walk this earth) and continue in it through our disobedience. But God sent His Son to die on the cross to FREE us from the yolk of slavery. We are now free to pursue all that God has for us.

Sin blinded us from God's beauty, it oppressed us with guilt. Sin gave our world decay, and made man want to rise up and be better than his neighbor. Sin instilled hate, crime, war, and poverty. Sin says I am better than God, I am better than you. It is a horrible disease that infects all.

We will always live in this sinful world, but those of us who believe God has rescued us, are promised a perfect home upon death, and we are promised to have life here on earth that is abundant and full of joy! That is freedom! We are free from the chains of sin (although since there are those still in this world that embrace sin, it will always be a sinful world), free to look to God and enjoy all He has for us....to embrace the purpose He created us for.

Love = Freedom. God loved His children so much that He sent His Son to die for them all. (John 3:16) We are now free to love, not hate. Free to look to our neighbor and not one-up him, but help him. Free to give to others out of the goodness God has given us, not steal from others. Free to put our pride aside and know that God created each of us equal and we are on this journey together. Free to lay our head on the pillow each evening knowing it is not I that is in control but our Heavenly Father. Freedom is Peace! We now operate on the law of Love, not the Law of Slavery (to sin).

Our forefathers knew that the Law of Love would build a greater country than the Law of Slavery (Authoritarian). Simply, when we are governed by our Creator, we will live a quiet and peaceable life......looking out for one another. When man lives to please himself, tyranny (read how this takes place here) will eventually take over.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

I have learned our freedom is a great gift. May we defend it always.