Day 333

I am grateful for freedom.

There are so many things to be free from and free to do! Being the patriot that I am, the first thing that the word "freedom" brings to mind is our personal and individual freedoms, those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The other thing is spiritual freedom. As believers, we are free from the law of sin and death. We not slaves to sin, but we're alive to God. I'm "free to live, free to give, free to be. I'm free to love You, Lord" as the lyrics go in "Holding Nothing Back" by Jesus Culture. I'm not only free from something--I'm free to do things that defy logic and human nature.

After a driver on a major highway here ventured back and forth across the median and into oncoming traffic, his vehicle hit a truck, killing the five children in it and critically injuring the father. That wiped out one woman's whole family. The response of the parents and grandparents? "We forgive him." One reported asked the grandfather, "How do you do something like that?" I'll never forget that grand man's response. "It's a decision you make long before it happens." Freedom in Christ allows a freedom that mighty to forgive a tragic, senseless collision. A curious world looks on and witnesses the impossible. We are free to live the eleventh commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Thank You, Lord, Your for sweet, glorious freedom.