Independence Day

I love Independence Day. It is one of my favorite Holidays.  I love everything about it; the fireworks, the parades, cookouts and well, what this day represents.  For a long time, at least a couple of years, before I go to bed I say a prayer that goes something like this "Thank you God for loving me, even when I am unlovable and do stupid stuff.."  Yes, I say "stupid stuff", because well, I do stupid stuff.  Listen, I talk to God like I'm talking to a friend. If you are my friend, then you probably know what those conversations are like.  I'd like to think he gets a chuckle out of them sometimes.    Erin and I were a lot alike in the fact that she did stupid stuff too.  Like not doing her homework and then trying to cram it in the morning that it was due, not cleaning her room but then shoving everything under her bed so that it appeared to be clean, among other things that she and I would have talks about over ice cream.  Some of the things that she did reminded me so much of when I was her age.  Emily, she is a little more wise than I was at that age.  She is extremely smart and knows what is right and wrong and knows how to discern that voice that is telling her what she is about to do isn't right, therefor she doesn't do it. Or if she does, she tells me about it because she feels convicted.   Oh man, not me.  When I was that age, I heard that voice tell me not to do it, as I was doing it and I was replying to that small voice "YOU SAID NOT TO DO THIS?  WHY? THIS IS FUN!" And then I'd pay the consequence.  My parents always made sure I knew they loved me, as I was getting into trouble.  It didn't happen too often, but when it did, I would question, to myself, the whole situation.  OK, I did something stupid, my parents are yelling at me, but they still love me.  So, as a Mom of teenage daughters, I would find myself in situations where I was yelling at them but in the same breath telling them that "just because I'm mad, doesn't mean I don't love you, it just means that I want you to make choices that I know you know are the right ones".  This is how God is to us.  We make bad decisions, he loves us but we still pay a consequence.  Otherwise, how do we grow and learn?  As an adult, I now know who that small voice is coming from.  And I do my hardest to listen.  Sometimes I don't, and I pay a consequence.  About 4 years ago, before we started going to church, I felt like if God didn't want something to happen, it wouldn't happen.  But what I now know is that God gives us our own independence to make decisions.  He wants us to make the right ones, but he also knows that we are going to do stupid stuff and choose the wrong decision. And he loves us anyway.  Like we love our kids when they do stupid stuff.  Read:   Galatians 5:1,  Philippians 3:12, 1 Peter 2:16
These verses are basically telling us that we are free to choose. Free to make our own decisions, however, do not use that freedom to make stupid decisions.  As Christians who have heard this before, or even if you have NEVER heard this before and are just now hearing it for the first time, now you know that yes, you are free to make your own decisions, but choose wisely.  We are free to live as who we want, but live a life to serve God.  Now we know that when we made those bad decisions that seemed fun or ok at the time that we eventually paid a consequence for, we were a slave to that decision.  Or perhaps you have made a decision that you haven't paid a consequence for yet, but it eats at you.  You worry that you're gonna get caught.  Sometimes you get relief from that worry but then your mind goes back to the "what if I get caught, how will I cover it up?"  You are a slave to that decision. It is like back when I used to drink to get drunk. I'll admit it.  When I used to drink, I liked to get a good buzz.  And the next morning, I'd say "I'm never doing that again.."  It was because I was feeling the aftermath of drinking the night before and it didn't feel good.  No different than going shopping and spending money you don't have.  Afterward, you think "why did I do that?!"  Or maybe you talked crap about someone that didn't deserve it (or maybe they did deserve it but who are you to talk about them?  It's not your issue to handle) and later you feel bad about talking about them.   God doesn't want that for you!  Just think how easy you could rest if you just made the right choice in the first place.  It might have been hard for that moment in time, or may not have been as much fun, but is living out your life in worry of getting caught all that fun?  I don't know about you, but I like a mind free of worry, free of guilt, free of feeling convicted about a decision I have made.  Philippians 3:12 sums it up for us.  Now that we know that we have been made perfect by the love of Jesus, and we know that we have the freedom to make our own choices, we are to press on and make the right choice that makes God happy.  And boy oh boy, do I press.  Sometimes I fall.  And that's not ok because I feel convicted.  I don't like that feeling.  God wants us to be free.  Free to make our own decisions but also free in mind, so that while we are out enjoying life, enjoying the fireworks, the cookouts, the swimming, the friend and family gatherings, our minds can be free to do his work.  You can't be a witness to someone if your mind is cluttered with your own stupid stuff you gotta deal with.  I know, I've been there.  I shared with you a part of my prayer before I go to bed.  My prayer before I get out of bed each morning is that God  takes away my anxiety (a new one for me)  so that I can do things that need to be done at home, to help me made good decisions and to teach me to keep my mouth shut unless it is something productive.  That last one is a hard one.  But I'm working on it.  Just because God gives me the freedom of speech, does not mean I always need to use it 😉.  I pray that everyone has a safe and fun Independence Day and whatever you do today, you do it in a way that is pleasing to God.