Pop And Sparkle

John 8:36 -- "So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free."

The night came almost as if our Creator reached out from Heaven and flipped the switch.  Equally as fast, came the pops, the sparkles, the booms - lighting up the pond with wonderful colors and a smokey fog of spent gun-powder.

We stepped onto the back porch and watched the show. United in celebration, our neighborhood lit up the night, dancing in their freedom. A rare night when millions of individual American citizens become one and revel in something that most of us don't give a second thought about through the rest of the year. We are FREE.

I CAN walk next door and pray with my neighbor as she brims over with tears because her sister is in the hospital.  I CAN dress fancy and attend the church of my choice on Sunday mornings. I CAN carry my Bible in open public and sing hymns as I shop for groceries. I CAN join hands with my family and offer a prayer of gratitude in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

It's a beautiful thing. This freedom. Not everyone has it.

In John 8:36, we are reminded that we are very truly free in the deepest sense of the word. We are no longer slaves to the death that comes because we are sinners from birth.  We are no longer slaves to gloom and shame. There is no shadow clinging to us - stubbornly reminding us that we were once in the dark. We are bought with light. Immersed in the glow of precious and amazing bright for which Jesus gave his last drops of blood.

As we stand against the screen on the back porch, faces lit up with the glow of bottle rockets bursting brilliant into the night sky - I swell with pride.  We are free.  And sense the Son set us free -- we are truly, truly free.  No thing can come between the love of our Father and us. What a wonderful reason to celebrate!