There is red, white, and blue everywhere I look, and there are fireworks going off across the nation and, from the sounds of it, about 2 feet away from my house.  That last bit is making me a little nervous.  We aren’t under an official ban here, but it’s pretty darn dry out there.  J and I had a lovely time at a party last weekend, so we opted to celebrate the 4th today with total do-nothingness.  It’s not too common for us to have a shared day off mid-week, and although there are projects aplenty around the house, today was not their day.  And it was lovely; lots of quiet time to surf Facebook and Pinterest, to watch my current favorite live stream of cuteness, plus I stayed in my pajamas nearly all day.  The only thing that forced me to put on grown-up clothes was the prospect of going out for a dinner I didn’t have to cook.

All that surfing was actually fairly educational today.  I have friends on both sides of the political aisle and quite “vocal” in their postings.  This is particularly interesting when it gets into the explosive combination of politics and faith.  I’m thankful for our right to free speech, even if it does result in a hot-tempered cacophony at times.  Between the national holiday and the the Bible studies and devotionals I’ve been working in, freedom has certainly been a theme.  Whatever your political leanings, identifying as a Christian is often to be identified by what you don’t do.

I find that to be backwards; those things from which I abstain make up such a small part of my life and are far more freedoms than constraints.  I don’t lie, steal, cheat, or kill.  Making sure I’m consistent with that takes up perhaps .02% of my day, thanks to the redeeming grace of God and the fact that it’s been quite a few decades since I agreed with God that none of those options would benefit me or my world.  I also came to an early conviction that sex was the final bond on a committed relationship, making it both important enough to wait for and unimportant enough that I wouldn’t die without it.  You don’t get to be a 32 year-old virgin bride without becoming known as the girl who Doesn’t.  Probably most controversial right now, in light of the recent vote to allow alcohol sales in my area for the first time since the 1930’s, I don’t drink.  I don’t live in the city limits, so I wasn’t allowed to vote regardless of my feelings, but boy was that a hot button topic, and among Christians more than anyone.  There were pastors begging their congregations to vote dry and pastors blogging that alcohol is biblically permitted and everything in between.

For what it’s worth, here’s the reason behind my choice: I don’t want to.  You like a drink here and there?  Don’t ever drive impaired, and follow the Bible’s command in Ephesians 5:18, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Outside of that, help yourself, truly.  I can completely accept that your freedom in Christ can include freedom to drink.  If you are interested in further reasons for why I choose not to drink, here they are:  I don’t see what it would add to my life.  I’m not interested in the empty calories as a trade off for extra flavor at my meals, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on any level of enjoyment when my celebrations don’t include it, and on the furthest serious side, I’ve seen the sad, permanent traces of damage in the family of a beloved alcoholic and I felt the gut-wrenching fear and relief as a child when my dad miraculously climbed alive out of a car demolished by a head-on hit from a drunk driver.

To me, my “I don’ts” are freedom.  I really like 1 Corinthians 10:23 in the NASB: “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.”  Paul has a lot of other interesting things to say after that verse about freedom to partake in life’s activities and freedom to abstain.  The summation is the key in verse 31, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  That’s really a fairly simple test, and covers any choice we could possibly make.  Ah, but what makes up the glory of God?  I heard a truly wise man say once, “You want to know God’s will for your life?  Live God’s will for your life.”  If I am living off past teachings and neglecting present time with God, I struggle more with big questions, “Will this lead me to the right point 5 years from now?”  or “Is this the right house to buy, job to take, church to attend?”  When I am immersed in Him, filling myself with spiritual food and staying in constant conversation with Him throughout the day, the questions are much simpler, like “How do I love this person in front of me right now?” and “Do I need what I’m about to buy or was I just made aware of a need in someone else’s life?”  If I make my choices in the moments, the years take care of themselves.

So.  I live in a country that fiercely proclaims it is “land of the free, home of the brave.”  And it really is.  May we learn to exercise real freedom, which indeed takes a good amount of bravery.  May we realize we can be independent of fear, oppression, jealousy, anger and a flaming case of judgmental “they don’t deserve it”, but only when we acknowledge our utter dependence on the majesty and grace of a God who has provided utter redemption for all of us who will accept it.  We learn the Bill of Rights in school as children, but somehow we grow up prepared to constantly defend our personal claim to them instead of using them to freely love and uplift others.  As Beth Moore said in last week’s study video, “If we’re going to err, lets err on the side of mercy!”  If only we weren’t so busy trying to legislate kindness and respect, but were busy simply letting Christ live it through us and trusting Him to take care of our own interests.  Wonder what that kind of America would look like?