Freedom - It's Your Choice

If I asked you to give me one word that describes the United States of America, what would it be? It should be ‘FREEDOM.’

Yes, I know America has problems, but it’s still the greatest country in the world. We are a blessed people. We can pick what we want. We can pick what we do. We can dream of our futures. We are free.

We talk about the problems we have in America, but you don’t hear stories about people fighting or boarding ships to get into other countries.

It’s the freedom they want.

See, this great country was established with a government that gave people a right to express themselves freely, to create with unlimited potential. The founders of this great nation designed it based on freedom, which they believed was God’s right for man. The concepts and ideas they used to build America were based on the Bible.

And we’ve created. Boy, have we created. Americans have invented and produced some amazing things—the telephone, the artificial heart, the sewing machine, computers, the Internet, zippers, tractors, the radio, hearing aids, air conditioning, the Polio vaccine, lasers, CDs, microwave ovens, space shuttles. The list goes on and on. We talk about other nations, but there has never been a people and a nation as productive as the U.S.

That’s your country. That’s America. Because America is free. We are free to create and dream dreams, and impact the world.

Of course nations aren’t born freely. People gave their lives for the birth of the United States of America. Last weekend, we honored our veterans and servicemen and women on Memorial Day. To date, about 1.4 million men and women have given their lives in the defense of the U.S.A. They went before us. They gave us the chance to be free today.

And, we’re still free, but now we have a problem. We’re at a crossroads. America is in a crisis. What makes America great is being lost. We have a heart problem. We’ve developed an entitlement mentality. In the depression, people traveled the country looking for a job. Today, people travel to the nearest government office looking for a handout. People now look at the government as their answer. In fact, we have 60% of our adult population receiving some sort of government assistance each month. We’ve grown to depend on other people instead of ourselves. We’ve come to depend on government instead of God.

America wasn’t founded that way. She was founded on the beliefs that you could produce your own future, you could own your future, you could build it as big as you wanted to, and you could change your family’s future.

We have to go back to this—to what is right. We have to speak up. The government isn’t our problem. It’s our thinking. We have to change the way we think. It’s the only way that America will survive.

So, if you have been lackadaisical, repent. Change your thinking. Remember that people have given their lives for your freedom. Don’t take it for granted. Show your appreciation by passing it on.

And get prepared for the fight ahead. Help educate those younger than you. Remind them of the price of liberty. Teach them that freedom has a price. Demonstrate righteousness. Rally around what made this country great.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14