Many images are brought to bear as we think of the 4th of July in our country. One of them is the image of celebration: hot dogs, apple pie, homemade ice cream (my personal favorite) and fireworks, somewhere in the evening under a hopefully clear enough sky.
Others think more deeply on this day - what of our freedoms lost, which were won at a cost? What of the future of our land? Is this the America we had forefathers fight and die for? The issues that rage state by state and at the federal level make us all wonder what is to become of a nation who so blatantly turns away from the ways of God.
My perspective today is backward to the time of our independence. Of course you'd expect me to view this through the eyes of a song. When the words of our national anthem were penned, the author looked across longingly at a fort where the battle for our country's freedom was being fought. He had no idea the state of affairs which awaited him as he looked on until he saw the flag. It waved proudly, making a statement - "we're still in this fight, and won't quit until someone has the audacity to take it away." Thus the powerful lyrics were written - "O say does that star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
I don't care to join the pundits in endless worrisome commentary about our country and its state of affairs, though I do pray for this land, blessed as it has been for so many years with the privilege of proclamation of the truth. My thoughts today are simple. Francis Scott Key reminds us that as long as the flag waves, we're still in the fight, so let us not lose focus. The day we take our eye off the flag and shift our attention to the "fat of the land," we may lose focus, and in losing it, lose the freedoms so dearly fought for.
As believers, the parallel is perfectly laid out for us. Christ calls us to keep our eyes on the cross - the symbol of our freedom. Freedom from sin, enslavement to the law, entrapment by religion and an enduring doom because of the fate of those who meet God without redemption. We are free - the price paid in blood - so let us seek to remember the point of that price - world reclamation by God through His chosen people, who are called by His name.
It is so easy for us as believers to fall prey to the same fate of so many countries - like America - who have allowed their focus to shift and end up losing touch with what really matters. Let us instead embrace a daily confrontation with the cross, and in preaching the gospel to ourselves, allow it to not only refresh grateful hearts, but remind us of our purpose here.
Why did Christ leave us on earth, rather than taking us home? Much better there than here. Simply because we are the proclaimers. We are His servant warriors - called by the Light to bear light to a dark world. Taught by Love's Source to love so that His love may abound in a world hungry for real love.
The banner of the cross still waves for us as believers. Let's stay focused on the redemption granted by its glory, and run hard to share love as soldiers of His Commission.
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