Dear Believers in Christ,
It’s 2026. For 250 years we, as a nation, have celebrated our independence from the tyranny of another nation’s kings. However, true independence is more than just saying so on paper, it must also be earned, most often through sacrificial action.
It’s good to celebrate independence of course. But this earthly independence we have, while long lasting in the case of our nation, will not be eternal. There will come a day when it ends. In fact, I argue it has already ended when we get right down to foundational first principles found in the firm foundation that is God’s Word. “Rejoice greatly … Shout aloud … your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9) These words were fulfilled 550 years later when Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey as He made His way to the cross to free us from the waterless pit of Hell through the blood of His new covenant. (Zechariah 9:11)
As a result of Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead, you and I through faith in Jesus have been freed from our enslavement to sin, Satan, and death. While freed, we are and never will be independent. We are entirely dependent on the one true God for all we have and ever will have. God our Father – we’re dependent on Him for the gift of the breath of life. God the Son, Jesus our Savior – we’re dependent on Him for the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. God the Holy Spirit – we’re dependent on Him to sustain our gift of faith through the troubles of life in this world so we come to realize our dependence on the One True God for all things … to include the blessing we have of living in this time and this place.
So let us celebrate our independence from the tyranny of sin, Satan, and death through our dependence on God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In Jesus’ Love,
Pastor Jim