By Eddie Wren
As a child I always referred to July 4 as simply “the fourth of July.” I really did not associate the holiday with freedom, but with watermelon, cookouts and mostly fireworks. But July 4 is Independence Day and I am grateful for the freedoms we have in this country and for those who have served in our armed services to protect those freedoms.
Even so, there is a greater freedom we should celebrate. A freedom no king or army can provide. No amount of military might can secure this freedom, but only surrender. The freedom I am referring to is freedom in and through Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:6-7 reads, “Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” Freedom is a word that is often used improperly. For example, many times people will use the words freedom in Christ to justify sinful behavior. But Christ was not crucified on the Cross to allow man to live any way that seems right in one’s own eyes. Jesus died to free us from sin. In freeing us from sin, Jesus has freed us to live an abundant, overflowing life only found in a relationship with Him. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
In June of 1985, Jesus set me free. I was a thirteen-year old boy attending camp at Gulf Shore Baptist Assembly on the coast of Mississippi. I was bound by sin and its overarching affects. But on the first night of camp my chaperone, Chuck Long, shared the Gospel. There, lying on a top bunk, I was convicted, I called out to Jesus and He set me free. In those moments and in the days and years to follow I realized freedom in Christ. With freedom from sin I found freedom from guilt, freedom to live, freedom of peace, freedom to love and be loved, freedom from self-consciousness, freedom from fear and doubt and so much more. That day in June was my Independence Day. He set me free.
John 8:32 reassures us, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Praise God for His Truth and for His Freedom.
There is no other freedom like freedom in Him. Indeed, we should thank God for the opportunities the freedoms we enjoy afford us to further His Kingdom.
Eddie Wren is president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention and pastor of First Baptist Church in Rayville.
