The Pursuit of Real Happiness

Today is U.S. Independence Day -- a day which can mean many different things to different people.

We've been thinking a lot this week about the concept of freedom.  There's a serious effort right now to start online poker cash games (along with other kinds of gambling) in some states.  You'd be free to play -- but to be honest, the amount of freedom you'd have would depend on how much time you have, and especially how much money you could invest in the games.

Some people seem to have more freedom than others, when it comes to poker.  A car dealer in our new city has become the local poker king.  Brandon Steven won more than $600,000 last week at the World Series of Poker.  His job allows the freedom to compete for weeks in Las Vegas (he's actually cashed twice at the WSOP this year) - and to pay the $111,000 entry fee for the "One Drop" tournament where he made the final table.

For those of us who can only play free tournaments in bars, it can seem like we have hardly any freedom at all compared to Steven.  But perhaps we need a different perspective:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. - II Corinthians 3:17

What kind of freedom is this?  Scoffers might say there's very little -- especially if they think Christianity and church are all about restrictive laws.  Yet consider what Jesus said:

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. - John 8:32

Jesus called Himself "the truth" (14:6), and indicated the Scriptures are truth in writing (17:17).  This combination can give you freedom -- but how?

....Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. - Romans 8:2

The "law" of our lives says we all sin (3:23), and we'll all die as a result (6:23).  But those who accept Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit in them have been freed from such discomforting thoughts -- because they have the hope of eternal life in Christ, beyond the grave.

That sort of freedom doesn't depend on your income level, or how high you rise on the WSOP Player of the Year ladder.  It's available to everyone.  Do you have that freedom now?  Are you happily thanking God for it, if you do -- not simply on Independence Day, but every day?