INDEPENDENCE DAY

Scripture: What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people He has chosen as His inheritance (Psalm 33:12 NLT).

Why do we celebrate the day on which America was birthed?

The Honorable Judge Michael Warren writes, “The importance of the Declaration of Independence can hardly be overstated. It established for the first time in world history a new nation based on the First Principles of the rule of law, unalienable rights, limited government, the Social Compact, equality, and the right to alter or abolish oppressive government.”[1] (Emphasis mine.)

Consider the boldness of its wording: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The Declaration then lists twenty-seven grievances against the British crown and adds: “We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people . . .”

The document ends, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Fifty-six brave men signed this declaration, fully aware that they risked death by hanging if the colonies should lose. Of these, eleven had their homes destroyed, five were hunted and captured, seventeen served in the military, and nine died during the bloody war that followed.

Prayer: Father, help us never forget the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for our freedom. Let the bells of our hearts ring out with joy!

[1]www. constitutingamerica.org