Three days ago we celebrated our nation’s 235th Independence Day. July 4th, a day of fireworks and picnics, a day or rest from our paid labor, and a day to recognize and remember the sacrifices of real people over 200 years ago that we might be free.
We are all blessed and very privileged to have been born in this great nation. We must never forget that our freedom and the liberty we enjoy were hard-won; they are not guaranteed and not to be taken for granted. The Founding Fathers (an amazing group of men, check them out if you never have) made it clear in their documents that our independence can remain secure only as long as We the People have a firm conviction that our liberties are a gift of God.
Did you know:
- The Declaration of Independence is a one-time, one of a kind document?
- The idea of a government getting its power from the consent of the governed, who are individuals with God-given not government-given rights, was new?
- The Declaration states 4 clear references to our Creator God
- The signers ranged in age from 27 to 70 years. They were businessmen, farmers, doctors, lawyers and preachers. Most were Protestant Christians, some with college degrees, some with military service.
- Many of the signers had their homes and property destroyed because they declared their freedom.
Next time you are tempted to complain about that bad day at work or whine about how everything is going wrong lately, consider what it would feel like to come home to nothing – all burned to the ground viciously simply because you said you wanted to be free. I’m going to try to live a little more sacrificially in light of those great patriarchs. Not financially or water rationing for the yard – we are all doing that these days. But in time, giving more thought to how we got here and what I can do to stop the erosion of our freedoms by those who would make us dependent on government rather than its head. Putting my money where my mouth is. Writing articles as a citizen journalist. It’s not even a sacrifice compared to what those guys did. But it’s what I can do.
