What Does Independence Mean?

Here's another post I wrote some years back. As I read it, I realized that most of what I said then is still relevant today, so I decided to dust it off and re-present it to you along with your Fourth of July apple pie.  I trust that while you’re having that second helping  you would stop to reflect on what independence means to you and to America.


What does Independence truly mean? Does it only mean having the ability to govern ourselves? Free from outside control, as the Oxford dictionary tells us? Or does it mean not depending on anyone? America is known as the land of the free and the home of the brave. But lately we have to ask ourselves who are the free and who are the brave?


Freedom may be limited, but bravery abounds. We have to be brave to walk the streets at nights, brave to send our children to school, brave to mention the name of Jesus in public. When over thirty six million people live in poverty in this, the richest country on earth, where is the independence? When children are the largest growing number of the nation’s poor, and words like outsourcing and downsizing are common everyday terms, where’s the independence?

I hate to spoil your celebrations, but we need to examine ourselves. As more people lose their healthcare, prices of basic commodities continue to rise, and wars rage at home and abroad, we need to depend more on God. The Bible tells us, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3: 5).

Think about that as you dig into that apple pie.

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Through A Child's Eyes

English: fireworks seen across the at Washington, D.C., USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fourth of July celebrations here in South Florida usually involve barbecues, picnics on the beach and, of course, watching the fireworks at night. This year, with all the rain we've been having, barbecues and picnics were out of the question. And when night came, we had to be content with trying to get glimpses of the fireworks from our patio.

Still, that didn't stop my five-year-old granddaughter from enjoying the display. Every time the fireworks burst into view, she would clap her little hands and say, "I love fourth of July." Her excitement was infectious, and helped to improve our mood that had been dampened by the dreary weather.

How easy it is for us adults to become dulled by the vicissitudes of life! Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and even Christmas have become occasions to just take a break from our normal routine, and little else. Can we look at a sunset, a beautiful flower or a newborn baby without feeling in awe of its Creator? If the answer is yes, then we need to take another look at ourselves, our values and our relationship with the God of the universe.

Jesus said,  "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted , and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18: 3). On another occasion He said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (19: 14).

We are to become as little children. What does that mean? I think it means we must maintain our sense of awe and wonder at who God is and all that He has done for us. We must have that same childlike faith and trust that children have in their parents.  Many of us have become bitter, cynical and disenchanted with life. Nothing gets us excited anymore. Notice how a child runs to her parent with joy and excitement each time the parent comes home or picks her up from school. We are to run to our Maker in the same way. If we have lost that joy, let's ask God to "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit" (Psalm 51: 12).