FREEDOM

This past week I had the unfortunate duty of doing a funeral service for a young person who was killed in an accident. He was drinking and driving and of the four people in the car he and one other young person were killed. I don't care how strong you think you are those kinds of tragedies will cut to the very heart of every person. The accident took place on the Fourth of July weekend - a time when we remember the birth of our country and celebrate the freedoms that we have as Americans. Ironically the young man killed had a tattoo on his arm that read, "Legalize Freedom". I had never heard that phrase so I looked it up on the internet and discovered that "Legalize Freedom" is the title of a song that promotes the legalization of marijuana. I found a magazine interview with the man who wrote the song and he talked about how in this country government and religions prevents people from expressing the freedom that everyone should have (in his case the freedom to use marijuana). It struck me that this man and most if not all of the young people who follow him have missed an important point. This man did an interview in a nationally distributed magazine that promotes the use of an illegal drug. he openly admitted to his ongoing use of the drug and even told which kind of marijuana he preferred and which part of the country the marijuana was grown. That magazine was published completely uncensored and unrestricted, that article had the written confession of a man who was commiting a felony on a daily basis and no one ever got arrested for that article! That man didn't even get a slap on the wrist for his admission of guilt and for some reason he thinks he has no freedom!! The fact is that every one of us has the freedom to say and do literally anything we choose to do or say. It may not be legal but we still have the freedom to do those things. In 1 Corinthians 6:12 Paul said, everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me but I will not be mastered by anything. Then in 1 Corinthians 10:23 Paul re-emphasized the point by saying, everything is permissible for me but not everything is constructive. I believe that just like Paul we have the freedom to do anything we may choose to do but why would we choose to do those things that are destructive or harmful for ourselves and others. I Galatians 5:13 the Bible says, you my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. I hope that on the Fourth of July weekend and every day of the year you celebrate the freedoms that you've been given by God. It's my prayer that we use those freedoms for the good of all people and to the glory of God through Jesus Christ!