July 4th

Fireworks, picnics, beach parties and sunburns are a large part of many July 4th celebrations. I wonder how many folks take the time sometime on the 4th to explain to their children what we are really celebrating. How many of us take a few minutes out of the day to say a special prayer of thanks for the freedom that is ours? Like so many of our national and state holidays, it doesn’t take very long for us to forget about what is being celebrated and just enjoy the time away from our routine.
The Lord understood the problem that people have that allows them to forget significant events the further they get away from them. Whenever He would declare a holiday He made sure to remind the people to take the time to teach following generations about the purpose. For instance, Exodus 12 records for us the origin of the Passover Feast. It was to be celebrated each year on the same day. Very specific instructions were given concerning what foods they were to use, how they were to dress and even how much food to prepare. But those weren’t the only instructions they were given.
“When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians” (Ex 12:24-27). That’s right, God made sure that the REASON for the holiday would be passed down through the generations as well as the celebration itself.
In Paul’s third person recollection of the first Lord’s Supper, he tells us that the Lord indicated the bread and cup were to be taken as an ongoing memorial to the freedom Christ granted us through His death (1 Cor 11:23-26). The implication is that the REASON for celebration and the celebration are to live on throughout the generations.
This year we just happen to celebrate our national independence the same day we celebrate our spiritual freedom. Let’s be sure that we pass on to the generations that follow us the significance of both those celebrations…with major emphasis on the spiritual battle that Jesus won through His death, burial and resurrection. You are loved. (Dan Boggs)