India just celebrated its 78th Independence Day. Freedom is the most valuable gift people can receive. There were freedom fighters, martyrs who ushered in the era of freedom and soldiers who did carry on the baton by keeping our borders safe. We are obliged to be grateful and thankful for all their sacrifices. Collective freedom is existent but individual freedom is still a challenge. True freedom is not when the country and their fellowmen adhere to the laws of the country due to the fear of punishment, but ruled by his/her inner conscience, respect for God and love for one another.
Today, countries are divided by power, racial tension, caste system, the rich and the poor gap, gender discrimination, religious system etc. Crime against women, children, elders, the money heist, financial scams, religious dramas that we are hearing everyday are bone chilling. Inner demons of everyone have kept him/her captive. The depravity and cruelty of each crime makes one think, is it even possible for someone to be so evil so sinful? We all fail to understand the existence of sin in each of us. Sin is immune to one’s religious upbringings, education or environment. Sin entices an individual to unleash all his/her potential to do harm and drags him/her to the point of death. The Bible says, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”.
One of the Apostles in the Bible says, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…”. It’s not our religious rituals that helps us be a sane person. It is the presence of God in our hearts that makes the difference. We keep God out there in religious shrines and make Him a stranger to our existence. We make Him a dependent beggar by occasionally throwing offerings and doing some good works in a haphazard manner.
The Bible states, ‘for you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”’.This is only possible when one can repent from all sin and surrender his/her life to Jesus who forgives man from all sin. You can unlock your life by repenting and confessing your failures to Christ Jesus and ask for His help. The Bible further says, “Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. Those who are born again because of what God has done will not keep on sinning. God's very nature remains in them. They can't go on sinning.”. This is brilliant and assuring. It is all about Jesus who is not like any of us or any of the so-called gods who lived in human history. He is the resurrected savior the hope for all of us. You can choose to know him more.
🙏🙏🙏
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