[A]s free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 1 Peter 2: 16, NKJV.
Dear God and Father, we thank You for the liberty that You offer us as Your sons and daughters. Please let us use it to bring You glory, and to bless humanity. This is our prayer in the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today has been set aside as a holiday to honor the life and achievements of one who gave the greater part of his life to the fight for freedom and equality for all people – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I imagine his father, being a minister of the Gospel himself, must have named him in honor of another freedom fighter – the great Reformer, Martin Luther. Both men fought to free people from the yoke that other human beings had laid upon them – the yokes of social and religious bondage. In both instances, the minds of the people had to be set free before they could grasp the significance of their liberty, and use it wisely. History has decked the memory of both men with garlands. They “fought a good fight,” and “kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4: 8)!
During the fight for social freedom, men and women were forced, to at least, face the fact, that because “all [people] are created equal” – all people, not only a privileged few, have a right to the same opportunities and privileges. In the fight for religious freedom, it was brought to the attention of Christians everywhere, that all people, not only the clergy, are free to go directly to God for forgiveness, because – “there is only one Mediator between God and [human beings], the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2: 5). They also became aware of the fact that, it is “by grace . . . through faith,” (Ephesians 2: 8), that men and women, boys and girls, are saved – “for the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1: 17)!
But it is not enough to know about freedom. For freedom to be adequately utilized, it must be understood. The apostle makes that point very clear in our Scripture for today, “as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice[.]” All people have the right to apply and compete, for the same jobs. But only those who have taken the time, and made the effort, to prepare themselves to perform the duties of the job to the best of their ability, have a right to be selected for those jobs. We are saved by grace, through faith, but does that make obedience to the Word of God void? The apostle very emphatically responds to that question, “God forbid” (Romans 3: 31)!
When our minds and hearts are completely surrendered to God, instead of being slaves to sin, we will become “bondservants to God,” because of love (John 14: 15) and will use our liberty as God intended. Only then, will it be possible for the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to become a reality, in its entirety.
Then will “freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. . . from the mighty mountains of New York. . . from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. . . from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. . . from the curvaceous slopes of California. . . . from Stone Mountain of Georgia. . . from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. . . from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. . . . from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city” (Martin Luther King, Jr.).
But as great as Dr. King’s dream was, and as much as it continues to inspire men and women all over the world today; greater, by far, is the dream of the Christian, that one day, sooner than we dare to believe, freedom will ring! Freedom from hunger and humiliation; freedom from sorrow and shame; freedom from sin, and sickness; freedom from disappointment and death!
Then and only then, will we truly be able to say, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last” (Ibid)!