So, It's almost the 4th of July. IT's a time to celebrate our freedom. I am thankful to live in America. I am thankful to have the freedoms that we have and I don't want anyone to take the freedoms I have away from me. I want to worship as I please, where I please, with whom I please. I want to read my Bible when and where I want. I am thankful that I was able to choose who I wanted to marry. I am thankful that my government does not dictate whether or not I can have children, or how many I can have. I am thankful that we have the freedom to purchase a home with a yard in the neighborhood we could afford. I am thankful that I was able to go to college (and drop out) and go to barber school and do hair and then change careers at 30. I haven't always made the best choices, but I have always had the freedom to make choices. I want my children to have these same rights.
Recently, our Judicial System ruled that same sex marriage is legal in America. Many of my friends celebrated, many more "flipped out" over the "wrongness" of it all. (Sorry, I'm struggling with words today I guess.) I vowed not to get into the Social Media war about it all, but I am going to record my thoughts here.
I believe God's Word. His word tells me the things that God considers sin and it tells me that sin separates me from Him. God's word says that immoral sex is a sin. It says that immoral sex is sex outside of marriage. It says that God created woman and man to be married. That being said, God's word also says that gossip is a sin, that God hates pride and arrogance and that vanity and gluttony are sins. This is only the beginning...
And from the very beginning, God gave us a choice to obey Him or not.
I think it is easier to blame our government for the sin so easily accepted in our culture. It's not our government's job to legislate morality. I still want the freedom to make those choices on my own. I want my kids to choose to follow and obey Jesus because they love Him, not because our government says they have to. That's a little harder though, because we have to teach them "Just because it's legal doesn't make it right."
God gives us the freedom to choose to follow Him and obey Him or not. HE is not threatened or thwarted by our judicial system's decisions.
Yes, now we have the freedom to marry someone of the same gender....or not. We still have the freedom to follow and obey Christ. That hasn't been taken away from us.
The preacher once said something along these lines....
If you choose Church when church is the only option, you aren't really choosing church. What really counts is what you choose when there is another option.
I think that the same idea applies to our current state of affairs. Yes, we were once a more moral nation. yes, we were a more conservative culture. But if that is the only acceptable option, were we really CHOOSING to follow God? Were we just doing what was expected?
Now, we have a choice; and with each passing year, we have more choices. We haven't had the freedom to be a Christian taken away from us, we've just been given other options... lots of other options.
Unlike my great grandparents who lived in a culture that expected everyone to follow the teachings of the Bible, NOW I can personally choose to follow and obey Christ....or not.
I choose Christ.
That's the beauty of freedom.
Recently, our Judicial System ruled that same sex marriage is legal in America. Many of my friends celebrated, many more "flipped out" over the "wrongness" of it all. (Sorry, I'm struggling with words today I guess.) I vowed not to get into the Social Media war about it all, but I am going to record my thoughts here.
I believe God's Word. His word tells me the things that God considers sin and it tells me that sin separates me from Him. God's word says that immoral sex is a sin. It says that immoral sex is sex outside of marriage. It says that God created woman and man to be married. That being said, God's word also says that gossip is a sin, that God hates pride and arrogance and that vanity and gluttony are sins. This is only the beginning...
And from the very beginning, God gave us a choice to obey Him or not.
I think it is easier to blame our government for the sin so easily accepted in our culture. It's not our government's job to legislate morality. I still want the freedom to make those choices on my own. I want my kids to choose to follow and obey Jesus because they love Him, not because our government says they have to. That's a little harder though, because we have to teach them "Just because it's legal doesn't make it right."
God gives us the freedom to choose to follow Him and obey Him or not. HE is not threatened or thwarted by our judicial system's decisions.
Yes, now we have the freedom to marry someone of the same gender....or not. We still have the freedom to follow and obey Christ. That hasn't been taken away from us.
The preacher once said something along these lines....
If you choose Church when church is the only option, you aren't really choosing church. What really counts is what you choose when there is another option.
I think that the same idea applies to our current state of affairs. Yes, we were once a more moral nation. yes, we were a more conservative culture. But if that is the only acceptable option, were we really CHOOSING to follow God? Were we just doing what was expected?
Now, we have a choice; and with each passing year, we have more choices. We haven't had the freedom to be a Christian taken away from us, we've just been given other options... lots of other options.
Unlike my great grandparents who lived in a culture that expected everyone to follow the teachings of the Bible, NOW I can personally choose to follow and obey Christ....or not.
I choose Christ.
That's the beauty of freedom.
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