Life is busy and sometimes you feel as if you just cannot go on. But let me encourage you to press on because we have so much yet to accomplish for the One who did so much for us. After all, it is not our strength that gets us through, but Christ’s. I love what Charles Spurgeon said long ago, “My faith rests not in what I am, or shall be, or feel, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is doing for me.”
This month as we celebrate our great nations birth and the freedom that we all enjoy, have you ever stopped to think, ‘what if those brave patriots had just given up?’ Someone once penned the following thoughts I would like to pass on to you.
Almost 230 years ago a group of men were meeting in trying circumstances. A war was on and armies were marching into battle. They believed in certain truths that ultimately would form one of human history’s greatest nations. They were willing to sacrifice their very lives for making these truths a reality in a new experiment called democracy.
What if Ben Franklin would have said, “I give up. This stuff is too hard. I’m going kite flying.”
What if George Washington would have telephoned from the battlefield and said, “I can’t do this anymore. I am out gunned, out manned, and out trained. I am going back to Mt Vernon and farm, get a new general!”
What if James Madison had said, “This will never work. We can’t do it. I don’t have time for all this Declaration of Independence work. I’m calling Dolly and telling her 'Let’s start the snack cake business you’ve been wanting to start!'”
What if Thomas Jefferson had said, “I am getting writer’s cramp. Can’t you guys do anything to help me out? I’m going back to Monticello!”
Without these men, you would have to wonder what our freedom and country would truly look like. We give thanks to all those who gave up so very much, who pressed on through difficulty so that we might enjoy the freedoms we all take for granted. We are truly blessed by God along with the efforts of so many brave and valiant men and women over these last 243 years.
We also have a much greater freedom and that is the freedom we enjoy through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Over 2000 years ago Jesus went to the cross of Calvary and won the victory for all of us through His death, burial and glorious resurrection. Today, through His blood we have salvation and freedom over sin and death and we look forward to life eternal with Him. That is true freedom!!
Because We're His,
Pastor Michael Tunnell
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