Yesterday was the 4th of July, a holiday celebrating 240
years of the United States as an independent nation. It is the day we show our devotion to America
as we dress in red, white and blue, wave the flag unabashedly, and in various
ways proclaim the freedom that we have as a people. For my family the two main ways we celebrated
were in going to the parade in Pagosa Springs in the morning and attending the
fireworks in Dulce at the end of the day.
It was a beautiful night for fireworks and the show was
great. There was much oohing, ahhing,
hooting and honking of horns as spectacular displays of color exploded and
faded from the sky. After we got home
from the fireworks and were in the process of ending our day I read this online
from a friend as he defined freedom,
"There are a lot
of people these days that believe that freedom is a person's right to do
anything they want. This is of course false since one person's actions may
infringe on another person's liberty. Freedom is a person's opportunity to do
what is morally right and proper."
I had that thought of "what is morally right and proper"
in mind as Robin and I sat down to end our day with the Bible and prayer. Last
night we read Psalm
51, which is David's confession of sin and plea for mercy after he has
realized the truth of his sin with Bathsheba.
David makes no excuses for what he did as he comes before the Lord God.
What David did with Bathsheba was the complete opposite of the
definition of freedom my friend gave. It was morally wrong and improper. And in reading the psalm, verse 12 jumped out
at me.
"Restore
me to the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing
spirit."
We could write an entire book about the wrong that David did
in human terms when he pursued Bathsheba, and the many people who suffered from
that wrong. In Psalm 51 we see that
David has learned that his actions had another victim, himself, for he has
blatantly violated God's good rules for human living and placed himself in
bondage before God. Unlike the founders
of the United States, David cannot declare his freedom and force God to give it
to him. David can only own up to what he
did and cast himself before God for mercy.
Ultimately, the mercy that David seeks comes through
Christ. It is only through the work of
Christ, laying down His own life for the redemption of people who would turn
towards God and seek His mercy, that can break the chains of bondage that come
from David's sin. It is only the work of
Christ that can free any sinner from their sin.
Freedom in Christ is what freedom truly looks like. It is God's free gift to all who would look
into their own hearts, see what is really there, and then turn towards Christ
to know the joy of salvation.
Scripture quotations
are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by
Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
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