It's not possible for me to let a commemoration such as Memorial Day, a day in which we honor those who have given their lives to secure our national freedom, to go by without appealing to freedom of another sort. Freedom that came at a far greater cost --- that of the life of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John records the words of Christ: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (8:31-32). What are those words, that truth which grants freedom? No mystery there...Christ has already showed us the Way --- "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death unto life" (John 5:24).
Christ has promised us freedom, life loosed from the bondage of self-service, sin, and hopelessness. His life mirrors what we can become -- true humanity, in the fullest sense of all that we were meant to be. And His death on the cross at Golgotha and resurrection has made possible our freedom! Faith in the finished work of Christ, in the sacrificial gift of His own life for yours and mine, is what God requires of us. "Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
Are you truly free?
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