Independence Day

Yesterday was independence day and it was interesting to see how it is celebrated. Of course there were flags. Lots of red, white and blue, too. Stores were all opened with 4th of July sales, and people seemed to move a lot slower with four days of leisure to enjoy.
This year, I also gave it more consideration. I pondered the meaning, and how it relates to me. First off, I am thankful for the privlege to know that I do indeed experience freedom everyday of the year. It begins with my citizenship of the United States of America. Here, I can speak my mind and not be punished because I differ from our current government officials. I can worship freely, without fear that the assembly would be suddenly halted by the powers that be.
However, the most important freedom I must say I experience is that of a spiritual nature. The United States of America has only imitated the real free will offering that God gave us. God has never forced us to love or obey Him.
The ten commandments that were given to us through Moses in the Bible only reveal that we are incapable of obeying and keeping all of them all the time. If this were the case for the condition to approach God and be granted eternal life in Heaven, we'd all lose out.
Therefore, God only gave the ten commandments as a template of why we need instead the blood of the lamb-- Jesus for the redemption of sins. So instead of freedom from the commandments, we embrace dependence on Jesus Christ and the cross. I guess you could call our freedom in spirit to be a 'He'dependence rather than 'independence.' You see, when we are dependent on the 'in' ward of ourselves, we are instead slaves to sin. Yet when we let go, to become dependent on 'He' (God), we are "free indeed" (John 8:36).
Let's celebrate our freedom everyday of the year!