July 4, 2023

With the weight of taxes and unjust laws, it hardly feels like we are independent and free. However, our freedom comes not from government but from God. If you are bound by the chains of your past, refusing to release them to God, you are not free whether you celebrate Independence Day or not. Accepting Jesus and his free gift doesn't set you free unless you hand all your encumbrances to him. If you are still mourning a loss, whether it be a failed relationship, a death of a loved one, someone intruding on your innocence, or some other trauma, it's time to bury it in the tomb of Jesus. He will deliver it to where it belongs and raise you to new life, but you are the one who must give it to him forever. Bury your burdens and water them with your tears, then pick yourself up and move on. He has paved the way for your true freedom, but it's up to you to walk in it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't remember, but that you shouldn't linger too long in the place of pain. He may be waiting to see what you do with it. Make him proud by defeating the enemy's hold. Bury those seeds and watch what grows in its stead. When you learn to turn it all over to him, you will have true freedom and independence. Abraham mourned for Sarah, but then he stood up. It's time to stand up.

And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Genesis 23:2-4