I’ve always felt blessed to have been born and raised in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. At least that’s how we referred to the United States of America as I was growing up. This country is still considered the Land of Opportunity to the many who take great risks and leave nearly everything behind to enter our borders to experience freedom firsthand.
Focusing on freedom’s foundation seems a worthwhile topic to discuss these days, since many seem determined to take away much of the freedom we still experience in America.
First, I believe we need to start with what God’s Word says about freedom. We were meant to have certain freedoms from the very beginning.
In Genesis 2:16-17, we hear God’s conversation with Adam: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’”
Well, as you know with the coaxing of the serpent Adam and Eve both tasted of the forbidden fruit and their sin has carried forward to all future generations. God has continued to allow us the freedom of choice in all we say and do as we languish through life here on earth.
Early in the 19th century, Alexis de Tocqueville, a French diplomat, political scientist and historian, wrote his well-known two-volume treatise entitled Democracy in America.
Let me give you my summation of his literary masterpiece: What has made America great is the faith of our forefathers and their desire to live in a way in which all men and women can live without fear of their freedom being usurped by any person or group of people ruling over them as they experienced in Great Britain.
Our Constitution provides for the separation of power into three distinct branches of government so “We the People” can rule over the government and protect our inalienable rights as a democratic republic under the auspices of our Creator. Unfortunately, God has been largely taken out of the equation, and many in this country these days seem to feel that the government knows best and we need to be led by more social programs controlled by federal and state dictates and decrees.
This is nothing new to our country. To date, the greatest threat to our forefathers’ wisdom came during the era of President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to his death in 1945. Two years after FDR’s demise, lawmakers passed the 22nd Amendment to our Constitution, which was ratified by the states four years later in 1951. The amendment limits to no more than two terms for an individual to hold the Office of the President.
For more on FDR, I suggest you read FDR Goes to War: How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America. Burton W. Folsom. Jr. and Anita Folsom, co-authors of this extensive presentation of our 32nd president and his usurping of power, may shed some light on this subject.
Let’s dig deeper into God’s Word and His position on freedom for all His creation. We should not take this subject lightly.
Listen to the words of the psalmist in Psalm 116:12-16: “How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, truly I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains.”
To me it’s quite obvious that our Lord wants us to be free from the chains of this world and our allegiance must be to Him.
Tocqueville described the Great American Experiment as a phenomenon unlike anything that any other country had ever experienced. The experiment is based on God’s permissive will for mankind to live according to His purpose and love for one another without prejudice or deceitful behavior.
Life is precious and civility and respect for all is tantamount. We must preserve this country and bring God back into the equation. The State and the Church both have a purpose in the experiment and they need to work together for the good of all.
Passages to Ponder
— Jim Langley has been writing for more than 30 years while working as a life and health insurance agent in Santa Barbara. In recent years, his passion has turned to writing about his personal relationship with God, and his goal is to encourage others to draw near to Him as well. As a longtime member of CBMC of Santa Barbara (Christian Business Men’s Connection), he started writing Fourth Quarter Strategies columns in 2014, and he now reaches an international audience through the CBMC International devotional Monday Manna. He can be contacted at [email protected] for more information. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
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