Independence Day

While most just call it The Fourth of July, that is simply the date of Independence Day.  Today is the date set aside to celebrate our independence.  But independence from what?  Well, speciically, it was from the rule of Greatt Brittian, what we call England today.  However, in the larger sense, it was independence from the rule of man.

Listen to what they wrote in The Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are creatted equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Did you notice from where these "Rights" were derived?  Not from the government, not from a king, not from the rule of man, but from "their Creator."  Our Forefather declared that we were independent from the rule of man, dependent instead on the Sovereignty of God, who has not made us subject to man's wisdom or desires but to His own perfect rule.

The right of self-determination is not something given by the government, it is given by God.  The government is not in the position to give us the right of life, liberty or the prusuit of Happiness, these are our rights afforded to us by our Creator, God himself.  Our government was establihed, not to give us rights, but to protect our rights from the attempts of man to subvert them.

Interestingly, today our government is trying to tell us whether we have the right to eat transfat, smoke tobacco or drink extra-large sodas (none of which are good ideas, but all of which are part of our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness).  Our freedom of speech, far from being protected, is being subverted by the Politically Correct Police.  I don't like some of the awful things people say, but it is not man's right to determine what we are allowed to say, that is a right of a free people.

We are not allowed to lie or slander or incite riot, based not on infringement of speech but on the rightful protection of others' God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We have the Divine Right of freedom of thought and the expression of that thought, and especially the right to follow and express our faith in God, without government interference.

My disagreement with the Gay Activist Movement has nothing to do with homophobia, it has to do with my understanding of what I believe God's Word to clearly express.  I have the right to that belief and the right to express that belief.  I do not have the right to dictate that others agree with me or follow he biblical principles in the same manner as I do.  Practicing LGBTs have the right to their belief, expression of that belief and a lifestyle based on that belief.  But neither they nor the government, has the right to demand that I accept, condone or endorse it, only that I do not infringe upon it.

They have the right to "Gay Pride" and I have the right to "Straight Pride."  These rights are endowed by our Creator.  Having a right does not mean that you are right, it only means you are allowed.  We still must answer to God as to whether we sought after his will or our own.  Despite our rights, God will sit in judgment as to whether we were righteous or not.  That is His sovereign right.

Today we celebrate our Independence from the rule of man.  Let us therefore seek to embrace our dependence on the will of God - the God who seeks to bless us beyond our comprehension in heaven and who establishes our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness here on earth.  Jus' Say'n.