To all Americans reading this I wish you a happy day celebrating the freedom we earned from a despotic government. It would be even better if we didn’t end up trading a despotic government for a corrupted one.
The truth is that no one is ever completely independent; that nice Jewish Pharisee from Tarsus, the one who made tents for a living, wrote to the Jews (and Gentiles) in Rome that we are either a slave to sin or a slave to God, and Yeshua confirmed that by telling us no one can have two masters.
The Revolutionary War wasn’t really what they wanted: they just wanted representation in Parliament. You know, if King George had been more accommodating, we might still be eating bangers and mash for dinner.
But, history lesson aside, my message is that we can be independent of some things that are of the world, but we are never truly independent unless we reject God.
Oh, wait a minute! That isn’t right, because if we reject God, then we will be under Satan’s control. You see, if we aren’t for God, we are against him, and that means we are subject to Satan, whether we realize it or not.
So, I say true independence is not freedom from something, it is freedom to choose something, but either way, we will be dependent on that something. As for me, I choose to be dependent on God.
As for the government we are living under, if we don’t like it we can go somewhere else. Or, in a free country (at least, one that is designed to be that way), we can use our vote to change what we don’t like, although that is always a lengthy process.
I choose to stay in America, despite how much it has spiraled down into a corrupted form of government- and that goes for either party! No one in American politics is completely clean, and that is because you can’t get anything done in politics without getting dirty.
The lesson we learn from both Yeshua’s teachings and Shaul’s (Paul) letters is that we must obey the government, because no matter how righteous or sinful it is, it is there by God’s allowance. And, being obedient to God, we faithfully suffer through the bad ones, and should give thanks for when we have a good one.
As for this day’s celebration of American freedom to be independent of England, despite how terrible I believe things have become, as a life-long student of American history, I know we have had bad times before and come through. If we can turn back to God, then this country will survive; if we continue on this backsliding, well… if you haven’t gotten right with God, now would be a good time.
That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!
