Today I’ve been thinking about how individualistic our society in the US is. I was talking to someone last night who said they weren’t sure if they’d celebrate the 4th at all because they don’t have anyone to celebrate it with. It made me really sad. But that’s sort of how we view our independence–it means we don’t need anyone. I fall into that trap all the time. I want to be healthy so that I won’t need people to help me with housecleaning and childcare and whatever else on the days I don’t feel well. We even want to be independent of God.
It’s so twisted! We can be independent of God and slaves to sin, or we can be slaves to God and free from sin. I like breaking it down into those two choices. It helps me a lot on the days when I am just plain sick and tired of doing things God’s way. Independence from God means death and loads of pain from consequences in the meantime. Not worth it.
I am really thankful that we live in a country where we can follow God, and, as a military brat, I’m extremely thankful for all the service men and women who have given their time, energy, and lives to keep us a free nation.
I hope we can celebrate our independence as a nation and simultaneously celebrate our desperate dependence on God today. Happy Independence Day!
