Devotion

1 Peter 2:15-16(NLT) It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.

What Is This Independence Really About?
As I meditate on this scripture and consider the significance of today, I feel bad for this ‘land of the free and home of the brave’. By no means do I scorn the wealth and opportunity that America holds in its bosom. But I look at the disproportion of it; the regulations and principles that – after 244 years – have yet to rectify the systemic bias that prevents American citizens from living the independent and free life that is rightfully theirs. Independence and freedom are ours - not because of anything America did for us – but because of what Christ did for all the world. The freedom we have in Christ welcomes every living soul. But the soul of America is in trouble and it’s going to be that way until America finally seeks God and repents. Perhaps the songwriter was intentional in saying that America is the ‘land of the free’ – those for whom the system favors, and the ‘home of the brave’ – those who endure the unjust bias and stand in their freedom in Christ. If this is the case, then I have to ask, “America, what is this independence really about?” To all the saints of Christ I say, “Keep standing on the Solid Rock of Christ, because all other ground is sinking sand.”  Our ‘independence’ is in our ‘dependence’ on God.