Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
This past Saturday we celebrated the 4th of July as a country. Sadly, this holiday happened over the weekend and so no extra days off from work! To add on to the sadness, neither did many of us have fireworks. Oh sure, we can stop by a fireworks store off the highway, but those just aren’t the same as the big ones we see light up the night sky.
On the 4th of July we celebrate freedom. We commemorate the moment in which as a country we declared our independence from foreign control and tyranny. Jesus offers and gives a different sort of freedom, one that came at the cost of His own life. He invites and calls us to find our freedom in Him. And once we are in Christ, so too can we relish in our freedom found only Him.
How can you celebrate your freedom, and also rest, in Jesus Christ? Remember your baptism. God chose to be your God at that moment. And every time you go to Him in prayer, every time you acknowledge your sin and receive His absolution you will find rest for your weary soul, you will find freedom for your guilt ridden heart.
LET US PRAY: God’s only child I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ! He, because I could not pay it, gave my full redemption price. Do I need earth’s treasures many? I have one worth more than any that bought me salvation free, lasting to eternity! – LSB # 594
Rev. Christopher Johnson