Free at last, free at last

On August 23, 1968, a famous civil rights advocate named Martin Luther King gave a speech in Washington, D.C., which became known as his "I have a dream" speech. In this speech, he constantly spoke of a dream/desire he had in which all people of all races would be free to fellowship, worship, work, and eat together. At the time it was given, this did seem as a dream, even though the civil rights act passed in 1963 already guaranteed that freedom. It might have been a law, but its intended effect had not come about yet. The reason for this is that laws can only be effective when men accept them and choose to live by them. As long as they don't accept the law and live by it, they will rebel against what it says and act against it. At that time, this is what was true in America, the freedom the old spiritual sang about just didn't exist. The law said all men would be treated equally, but many did not believe in that equality. Sadly, that is still true. No matter what the race or color of a person, there will be those who think he is less than them, and he is likely to think that of them, also. Our country started out with a document called the Declaration of Independence, which stated: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." That phrase has been used many times in documents from that period, yet slavery was still practiced routinely by some of the writers. Indeed, the one who authored much of that Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was himself a slave owner. Throughout his life, he spoke out and wrote against the practice, yet he "owned" slaves till the day of his death.

I've said all this to prove a point. We can write laws, make speeches, and have strongly held "beliefs" on a particular subject, but until we accept it down deep in our hearts and begin to practice it in our daily lives, it will not have its intended effect and result. God has declared us to be free, through the blood of Jesus, our Savior, yet we continue to live lives under bondage to sin and our fleshly desires. We may sing:

yet our daily lives do not exhibit this as fact. We generally live as if we are slaves to our desires, not free to follow after Jesus. Maybe we have failed to truly grasp our "Declaration of Independence", written in the blood of Jesus, and do not believe the Scripture: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32 (KJV) The problem results from the meaning of "know" in the Greek language. It implies a knowledge gained through the difficulties faced in one's life experiences. This experiential knowledge is not gained by mere casual relationship, intellectual pursuit, or even a disciplined study of some worthwhile subject. Rather, it is a deeply personal knowledge gained from the intimate experience of knowing Jesus. If you read the passage these verses come from, you know it is precluded by the stipulation, "if you continue (abide, live your life) in my Word, then shall ye be my disciples and ye shall know the truth----" True discipleship results in this personal, intimate knowledge of the Christ. Living our lives as if Jesus was right here with us (which HE is) and listening/reading His Word combine to create this real knowledge of the truth that sets us free. Jesus wants us to be free and has done His part. We must accept as truth the fact that HE has freed us. Here are a few more things His Word says about that fact: If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36 (KJV), But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life (Romans 6:22 (KJV), For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2 (KJV), Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1 (KJV)

Jesus died on the cross so that we might be set free from the bondage of sin and death. God the Father signed the "Emancipation Proclamation" in the blood of His Son. HE has given us the power to say "no" to our old master, sin, but we won't know that as a fact until we accept it as truth and begin to practice it. Let those of us who have received Jesus as our Savior each begin today saying, believing, and practicing the fact that we are free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we're free at last!