When I was a kid I was taught in school the song “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty”, yes the patriotic song ‘America’. Little did I realize the depths of that song, but as we look back at the framers of our country and constitution as adults we can see the intent that all people should be free. It took nearly 100 years and a civil war to make that the law of the land to free those in slavery, 60 more years to give women the right to vote and then another 50 years for congress to pass the equal rights amendment. So today we should be able to sing ‘America’ all the more, knowing that the law of the land is liberty for all.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,  and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” – Galatians 5:1 NKJV

Any student of American history can see that the principles upon which our country was formed come from the Bible. Just go into the Supreme Court and see the Ten Commandments on the wall, not to mention the use of swearing on the Bible in all courts. We are a country founded on the principle of liberty for all, just like we (hopefully) practice in our lives and in our churches. And thatliberty is worth standing up for and fighting for. We are one nation, under God, made free. And we should stand fast, or in other words, we should not be moved from the proposition that liberty is our God-given right.

But let’s use good judgement in this proposition. Not only should we defend our own freedom, we should defend the freedom of all people. Just look what the Bible has to say: “Then you recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name.” (Jeremiah 34:15 NKJV). It is right in God’s eyes that we should proclaim liberty to our neighbor, who is everyone. And we should stand against those who seek to bring the American people into subjection, both abroad and domestically.

Let’s remember that the hard work and sacrifice required to make this the sweet land of liberty had only begun on July 4th. And the work goes on today. Let’s also remember that liberty for all is what God intends, so let’s stand strong in the perfect law of liberty we find in the Bible and in Jesus Christ.