Freedom is most definitely not even close to being free

I've heard the phrase "freedom is not free" many times throughout my life. When I was young, I didn't really know anyone who was active in the military, so the phrase didn't seem to have much meaning for me personally. As I've grown older (I know it's hard to believe, but I am older:), I've come to appreciate that phrase in so many different ways.

Probably one of the most moving times that phrase has come to life for me was when I was visiting "Ground Zero" in New York City on 9/11. This was a couple years after the twin towers were hit. We decided to go down to the site on September 11th because the date had such special meaning. What we found once we arrived was one of the most overwhelming emotional and spiritual moments that I've ever had.

We started out by the church near where the twin towers used to stand. This is the church where many of the people sought refuge when the towers were hit, where many of the workers took refuge while searching for survivors and then during the rescue process and where many family members came to try to find out about their loved ones. In front of this church on the street was a ginormous bell on a trailer. The man in charge of the bell said that they took this bell all over the country to places where tragedies had happened and they would ring the bell in mourning. He then asked if we would like to ring the bell. Part of me said "no, that's much too personal", but another part of me really wanted to ring that bell. I can't say that ringing the bell put me any closer to those who were grieving family members, but it definitely put is in the emotional place of feeling a part of that day.

As we continued on, there was a fire station directly across from the twin towers...right across the street. When the towers were hit, the fireman at that station responded immediately and thus, most of them were lost. As we rounded the corner, we were struck by an amazingly haunting and beautiful sight. There, in front of the station, were many, many fireman in their dress uniforms. As we began to pass the station, they called a final call and all the firemen stood at attention. It was a surreal moment. We watched as grown men (big, grown men) stood at attention with tears rolling down their faces as they mourned their friends and loved ones who responded to a tragedy, not thinking of themselves, but putting the people in the tower first and running up those stairs.

We continued to walk around ground zero and noticed that people were filing down into the actual site. Shortly, we heard a loud speaker from the site and saw people lining up in front of a microphone. Then, the first name was read... I can't recall the name, but it was someone who was reading the name of a loved one... then the next person came forward and read a name. One by one, each name of every person who died at that site was read by a loved one, who stated the person's name and what relationship they had with them... brother, father, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter. By this time, our group had stopped and I truly felt like I could go no further. We just listened...then we started hearing, police officer, fireman... unbelievable. At this point, we couldn't even continue our tour, it was overwhelming.

When I think of those fighting for our freedom and our right to be safe from terrorists and whomever else wants to take those freedoms from us... this is the moment that I remember and I know that those who fight for me and my family do so at great risk. Our thanks can never be enough.

But that isn't the only type of freedom that I'm thinking about today. There's another kind of freedom that also wasn't free. I have a friend who suffered from a horrible illness. Towards the end of his life, you couldn't even recognize him. Just as someone who suffers from cancer can become frail and broken and unlike themselves, so did our friend who suffered from a completely different illness. My kids ask why bad things happen... and we have to tell them about a world that is much different than the one that God had planned for us. A fallen world, where sin is part of life and bad things happen to both good and bad people and that illness is not what God wanted for us. But God is gracious and merciful and good and He made sure that we had our freedom. Our friend is now whole and healed and free to worship God without the restraints of our world.

God's gift of freedom was most certainly not free. It cost God everything. Yet, He willingly and purposefully sent His Son, Jesus, so that we will now be free from the chains of guilt and shame and pain and suffering and sin and in the future, be free from eternity without Him.

So, today as we are remembering our Independence Day... it is certainly two-fold. First..be thankful for those who serve in our military and defend our freedoms and keep us safe from things like another 9/11. Secondly, be thankful to God for our freedom through Christ for a life that is abundantly more than we can ever ask or imagine. "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36