We are thankful to live in a country that values freedom and independence. And today, we celebrate that! But we do so in light of eternity.

By American standards, freedom is the ability to vote, bear arms, say what we want, and more. We enjoy those freedoms thanks to the men and women who have bravely fought to defend them. Because of that, our Independence is not something I take lightly.

And yet.

And yet, there is a greater freedom that must be more important.

Christ set us free from sin and death through His death on the cross. By giving Himself, dying, and raising again, Jesus granted our Independence from our fleshly and natural desires.

But that freedom was granted for a purpose and it wasn’t just so we could go do our own thing. Rather, we are told to use our freedom to serve others, not ourselves (Galatians 5:13, 1 Peter 2:16).

So happy Independence Day! As you eat some hotdogs, drink lemonade, and wear Americana gear, celebrate!

But let’s also celebrate our freedom in Christ and let’s use that freedom to serve others today, too. Maybe take some cookies to the local police station or fire department. Maybe pick up trash you see lying on the street. Maybe just smile at someone and be kind. And when they ask? Tell them about how Christ set you free so you can serve.

We’ll see you here tomorrow with a post of about a million totally random things… but until then, I’ll close with this picture of me and Hudson from Monday when we accidentally matched in our red pants an led chambray shirts: