This weekend our nation celebrates the rich history of our independence. The day we commemorate the victories and the battle won that set us free from tyranny from abroad. The day we signed our declaration of independence and the true birth of a nation began. There is so much we forget about independence until we lose our freedoms.

Yet our freedoms are never as secure as when we recognize them as a gift from others. You think of the countless of people who have paid the ultimate price, their lives, so you and I can enjoy this holiday. Many are the sacrifices, of blood sweet and tears that go unnoticed. Parents who view this weekend differently than you and I do because they truly know that freedom comes at a heavy price, which is why this weekend and memorial day weekend should always remain deer to our hearts.

There is something about paying the ultimate sacrifice that lets us know how precious freedom is. Many of us sometimes never stop to contemplate the significance of the matter because we take it for granted. This is how it has always been and this is how you think it will always be and yet how strangely it is that those who usually do not know its nation history are the ones who might get fooled into giving it all up. Never forget freedom always comes at a price.

That is why the death of Jesus carries so much weight in history yet few understand the enormity of that death. No matter what your religious persuasion His death marks the defining of time for the majority of the world. He is known or mention in almost all other religions and is considered an important man/prophet in other religions outside of Christianity. His death paved the way for your independence from an enemy we hardly acknowledge anymore. That enemy is sin.

Sin had falsely led us to believe that we can be independent from God. Sin has taught us to indulge in all that feels good to us never realizing that certain pleasures can get us to forget the God who died for our independence in Him. It is the freedom I find in His life that allows me to overcome the obstacles in this life. I am never freer as when I lose myself in Christ. This is a concept that you might find difficult to comprehend meditate on the verse below.

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36

God has indeed made us free and in the weeks to come I will explore the freedom we find in Him. Until then enjoy your weekend knowing that the freedoms we share have come at the ultimate price… the life of the Son of God.
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Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He graduated in December 2007 with a master of divinity degree from Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at GioMarinColumn@aol.com © Copyright 2009 by Gio Marin.