Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Liberation (05/02/24)
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TITLE: Reach for Freedom | Previous Challenge Entry
By Em Bonja
05/09/24 -
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Nearly 250 years ago, a courageous band of people set out to cross an ocean and settle a wilderness filled with dangers, unknowns, and…
hope. The driving motivation for many, many of them was the yearning and necessity of freedom.
After 165 years of developing a country, surviving deadly winters, and tasting self-actualization, they came to the necessity of declaring their independence from British rule, which was more oppressive than many today might realize. It is eye-opening to read their intelligently written grievances and better understand the untenable bind they were living in.
At a gathering in Philadelphia, a diverse group of men worked to come to agreement, drafting some to write their Declaration of Independence, which became signed by fifty-six men. The document amounted to treason as it was a betrayal of their home country, and the penalty for treason was death. Their signing was an act of courage and resulted in sacrifices by many of them.
The Declaration itself was clear in stating, “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these states.” The yearning for liberation grew into resolve. They maintained their “right to be free… pledging our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
It took a Revolutionary War for the undermanned colonists to win their right to be a free, self-determining people, to be liberated from oppressors. Because of their persistence and courage, America went on to experience many decades of self-government and success unparalleled in history.
However, today we are witnessing and experiencing an erosion of those freedoms that is threatening to undo that liberation so courageously won. We have realized that liberation is often temporary and sometimes must be won again. We are seeing that freedom, even when “guaranteed” by a document, is a fragile condition subject to destruction by new oppressors.
If the world is the only source of hope and freedom, we are a desperate people. However, there is a liberation that is not temporary, and cannot be taken away. It is complete and final, for all eternity. Christ came as God in human form to win the ultimate war against the oppression of sin, death, and Satan himself. His victory is our victory and is absolute.
In choosing to accept what he has done for us, we can know true freedom and be part of showing the way for others to experience this same freedom. Let’s draw on the courage only God can give and “sign our declaration” so our names are written in the most important document of all: The Lamb’s Book of Life” [1] Once we are free, we can go forward to love others and be a light for their liberation. Our joy will far exceed that of those who live in the light of any earthly liberation.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1 ESV)
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14 ESV)
[1] Record of all of the names of those who belong to Jesus Christ
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