"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
Happy Fourth of July! We commemorate the day when our founding fathers issued the Declaration of Independence. The document formally severing out ties, as tenuous as they were at that time, with King George and England. It was a bold move to stand up and proclaim for all the world to hear that enough was enough. No more would this collection of peoples live under the rule of King George. Tyranny and despotism were called out and rejected. The peoples to be known as Americans were moving on in search of freedom and a better life. This is what was done for us by those braves souls many years ago. And when it came time to decide what the basic rights of the citizens of this new country would enjoy a Bill of Rights was put into place. The first and foremost in that same Bill of Rights is the freedom of religion. Our first amendment rights, are held sacrosanct. 'No state mandated religion shall be established or empowered.' We worship our Lord freely and without fear of reprisal. Mark 12: 28-30 gives us the reason, the greatest commandment, is why we worship our Lord. We in our houses of worship and in our homes can declare boldly that Jesus Christ is Lord. We can speak our mind about our faith. And when young men and women enlist in our armed services they swear to "defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign, and domestic. " These principles are important to our freedom of worship. Someone is willing to stand up and fight for those rights. Someone is willing to draw a line in the sand and back up than line with their life and their blood. We hold dear and sacred the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. He drew a line in the sand and said enough is enough. Mankind needs to be set free from the death in sin. And He backed up that premise with His life and His blood. He set the prisoners free.
As we take time to celebrate our independence, please remember to reason for our freedom. Men and women have given that last full measure of dedication to our country and all the fine things she stands for. And let us also remember that we are truly freed from death in sin by the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The remainder of the conversation between Jesus and one of the teachers of the law is well worth reading as it fills in the how and why and extent of our love for our Lord. Mark 12: 32-34 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
PRAYER: Almighty God You alone are worthy of our praise. We lift You up today and every day Father. We give You thanks for the freedoms we enjoy. We give you praise for the lives and sacrifice of those brave men and women who have and will continue to defend the freedoms we hold dear. We honor You O God for the Son who became man and suffered the cross so that we may truly be freed from death. And we thank you for all the saints who have gone on before us in defending the faith that matters. All praise honor and glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
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