With July 4th quickly approaching,
Americans everywhere are making special plans to gather with family around the
grill or pool, possibly even taking in an evening of fireworks, in order to
celebrate our longstanding independence as a nation. Independence and freedom have a special place
in our culture. In fact, within the western mind, freedom could be named as one
of the highest virtues, even worth the cost of one’s life.
As of note, Jesus also has much to
say about freedom and liberty. In his inaugural address while speaking in the
synagogue at Nazareth, he quotes Isaiah:
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He sent me to
proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set
at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19
But liberty that comes from Christ
finds it genesis not in exhaustive rebellion seeking the independence of a sovereign.
Rather, true liberty finds its home only
in utter “dependence” on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That dependence does
not come naturally for you and I, especially in times of blessing. But as our
model and despite his capabilities, Jesus relied entirely on the will of the
Father and the power of the Holy Spirit. His attitude was one that said, “by
myself I can do nothing” (John 5:30). He
lived conscious of his dependence on the Father, for when he prayed, “he was
heard because of his reverent submission” (Hebrews 5:7).
Prayer is the conduit for our life
empowering, perspective focusing, dependency on God. Relationship cannot exist
without its constant practice and dependence gives way to self-sustaining
shortsightedness. Only when we fix our
gaze through prayer upon the one who has created us to be a reflection of
Himself, as a right image bearer of God, can we find freedom from self, liberty
from sin, and life giving dependence on the giver of all that is good.
Happy Dependence Day!
