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Saturday, July 4, 2009

this day i celebrate my freedom

freedom is a beautiful thing! but, it is absolutely never free! it comes at a great cost! the freedoms that i enjoy were purchased by someone! i am not the one who had to pay for them! but someone did! i honor you by living free and this day i celebrate my freedom!

undeserved, unearned freedom to live my life in any way that i desire; many people died to make that possible for me. i am free to choose where i go each day and what i do, who i talk to and what i say, how i make my money and where i spend it, how i raise my kids and where they go to school, who i worship and where i go to church. i am free! no one decides these things for me. it is the benefit i get for doing nothing except being born and living in a free country. a place that provides freedom for its citizens to be all that they can be. i did not fight for that freedom, but i am privileged and honored to partake of this freedom that so many brave soldiers did fight for. it brings honor to the men and women who paid such a high price to bring us freedom when we live in and experience what they fought so hard for.

it would be stupid if i did not partake of my freedoms just because i felt like i did not deserve them or pay anything for them. if i just sat and waited for someone to tell me what to do with every aspect of my life and never took my own initiative to explore my own desires. if i looked for someone else to tell me what to do with my life and how i should make that happen or who i should worship and why. it would be as if i were bound by invisible chains that i perceived were there but weren't. it would be as if all of the lives that were sacrificed for my freedom would have been done for no reason at all because i did not partake in them. kinda like saying, "thanks but no thanks, i will find my own freedom. i will pay for it myself thank you!" it would be that a great cost was paid for nothing!

it almost sounds rediculous to not partake of such freedom. but, yet in a different kind of way, i, sometimes, find this in my relationship with God.

undeserved, unearned freedom to live in Christ; Jesus died to make that possible for me. i am free from sin and all of its power in my life. i have free access to my Father. i am free to experience joy and peace and the perfect love that He has for me. i am free from the dictates of the Law and the condemnation that follows when i fail. i am free! it is the benefit that i get for doing nothing except being born again by my faith in the One who paid the price with His life to make this freedom possible for me by making me to live in union and communion with my Creator. i did not fight for this freedom, nor do i fight to continue to live in it, but i am privileged and honored to partake and live in the freedom that was bought and paid for me to have. it brings honor to the Lord when we experience and live in the freedom He paid such a high price for us to have.

to allow myself to feel as if i need to earn my postition in Christ, by unholding a certain standard of obedience or Law abiding, to not enter into the presence of God that is so freely open to me, to continue to see myself as a sinner who has no power to overcome the struggles in my life or to think that if i do enough good things then God will love me more is also living as if i were still bound by invisible chains that are no longer there. it would be as if all that Jesus sacrificed for me to have was done so in vain because i was not using the freedoms that He paid for me to have with His life. it would be that a great cost was paid for nothing!

freedom is a beautiful thing! but it is absolutely never free! it comes at a great cost! the freedom to experiece Life in Christ was purchased by Jesus Christ Himself! i did not nor could not have ever paid the price it took to bring such freedom! But Jesus did! i honor You by living free and this day i celebrate my freedom!

21 comments:

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

Beautiful post Christy!

Mich said...

Great post!

Here is hoping you had a great weekend celebrating the freedom we have in this country as well as the freedom we have in Christ.

He & Me + 3 said...

It is such a privilege to be so free. So thankful for that freedom! Great post!

Anonymous said...

Dear Christy Rose,

This is wonderful how you made the connection of our freedom and freedom in Christ Jesus! As you said, freedom is never free. Jesus paid a great price, and it is God’s will that we live our lives by surrendering them to God and laying them down as Jesus. It takes a daily walk with Him to be able to do it.

Thank you.

♥Hope

Loren said...

Amen Sister! This is exactly how I feel and love the way you were able to put this into beautiful words!

Love and hugs to you

KEE said...

Beautiful post.

I just wanted to thank you for all the encouraging words you leave on my blog and for all the prayers. So glad I found your site.

RCUBEs said...

Glory to God! Amen to this post. may we always remember that the "cost of our freedom is priceless"...God bless sister Christy. Love and blessings.

Beth in NC said...

I am thankful for my freedom too Christy. In America and in Christ.

Thanks for sharing!
Beth

Heart2Heart said...

Christy,

Truer words could have never been spoken or written for that matter! It is something I think we all take for granted because we forget that a price did come for that freedom we so richly enjoy and just assume is our God given right for living here.

Look at how hard so many struggle elsewhere for those very same freedoms we have today.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

~*Michelle*~ said...

Preach it Christy Rose!

His Pain
Our Gain

Rock on!
Happy Freedom Day and because of Him.....we can celebrate that every.day.of.our.life.

xox

Warren Baldwin said...

Good thoughts on freedom! You are right that we have this great freedom, but how do so many of us choose to use it? To pursue the pleasure of this world. Good admonition for us to use our freedom to pursue Christ!

With your approval I am quoting you in my new post. Please let me know what you think. Thanks, wb

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

All freedom is rooted in Jesus Christ and the shed blood of the cross. You've done a beautiful job of tracing the parallel, Christy. This is one of my favorites of yours (I realize I haven't been reading long). Keep to it.

Celebrating all of my freedoms alongside of you.

peace~elaine

E @ Scottsville said...

Praise God for our freedom and you're right,it is NOT free.

Christ paid the ultimate price.

Many of our country's men have paid the ultimate price. Praise God that although my grandfather, father and hubby were all military, none of them had to die in their quest for our freedom.

Great post!

Jen said...

Christy Rose,

We are in a free country AND have freedom in Christ--how could it be any better?

Thanks for a great post!

momstheword said...

Amen, girl. I imagine it makes Him very sad to see us not live in the freedom that He intended.

It would make me sad if my children worried all day about things, instead of trusting us to take care of them.

If they didn't live in the freedom that comes from being a child and trusting your parent.

Yet we do that very thing with the Lord sometimes.

Living in freedom today!

Oh, and yes, things are still kind of messed up around here, but I do plan on working on it, lol!

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

As you know, I celebrate freedom within as much as freedom without, just like you. Blessings!

LisaShaw said...

Beautiful and powerful message! Thank YOU JESUS FOR FREEDOM! Praise the Lord!

Thank you Christy for your encouraging message on my blog today.

Love and hugs.

Billy Coffey said...

Yes, yes, and YES!

Wonderful words, Christy. Hope you had a great weekend!

Mocha Momma said...

Great pictures of little Jacob. He's so cute and so blonde. He's precious in the basket.

Your post on celebrating your freedom was excellent! Not partaking of our freedom in Christ and in our country is such a shame.

God bless you. I selected you for the Honest Scrap Award which you may have received already, but you deserve to get it again. You are truly an inspiration to me.

If you want to participate see my blog for details. Pass if you do not want to do it and let me know so I can select someone else.

Thanks,
Nannette

jerriann said...

just stopping by to say hi, glad to meet you. I love your post here, very good. I have always felt a close connection to the men and women who have fought in wars for our freedom and I know that freedom isn't free. I love you comparison with our freedom in the LORD and that freedom was bought at a price too. Neither one cheep or neither one easy.

Jennifer W. said...

What a powerful post. I love to read your heart-it's beautiful
Jen