“Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.”
– Deuteronomy 10:15 

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…”      –Psalm 33:12

For Christians, 4th of July should be a special day.  While much of America celebrates our political freedom from England and the oppressive ways of the King, Christians can celebrate another reason for the holiday – freedom for Christian worship. 

This freedom began with those who made the pilgram voyage in search of a new land whereupon they could establish new lives that would include the freedom to worship Christ as they pleased.  In the ‘old country’ there were times when people were required to follow the Christian worship practices of the Royal Family.  Failure to do so could result in persecution.  People who sought to worship Christ in other ways were forced to worship secretly and were fearful of discovery by the ‘people’ of the Palace. 

God’s blessings were upon the Pilgrims who made that first voyage.  His blessings continued to be with the new Americans as our Founding Fathers created the the Declaration of Independence on this day in 1776.  They prayerfully brought our great nation into official existence.  They acknowledge ‘Nature’s God’, and the ‘Creator’ in the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence.  In closing the document says, “AND for the support of this Declaration , with a firm reliance on the protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”  They closed the Declaration of Independence firmly relying on the divine protection of God.

Oh, how I wish our countrymen still relied on God today as our Founding Fathers did then.  

It might be of further interest for you to know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson achieved the ultimate freedom from the oppressions of this world when they each died on this day, the 4th of July, exactly 50 years after signing the historical Declaration of Independence.  Their deaths were unrelated, and John Adams actually spoke of Thomas Jefferson in his final words, unaware that he had passed away just hours earlier. 

Today I firmly believe that we continue to be a nation blessed by God.  Yes, oppression still exists.  It always will in our fallen world.  But greater than the existence of oppression is the existence of God, whose fingerprint is within us all, and Who so desperately wants us to seek our freedom in Him. 

Thank you, God, for blessing this great nation of ours. And thank You, too, for the many men and women dedicating their lives in service to protect the freedoms we celebrate today.  May Your blessings be upon them and Your great arms of protection be around them until You bring them safely home. In Jesus Name I pray.  Amen.