INDEPENDENCE DAY

Commonwealth Stadium was just over the hill a mile or so, and from her rooftop, a little girl had a perfect view of July 4th fireworks skyrocketing heavenward to burst and cascade in a waterfall of colors down the evening sky. A rush of memory came with them, of parents sitting on the front stoop in the warm black of summer and neighborhood children running through the dark with sparklers in hand, leaving a filmy white trail behind them. Thousands of parents and children across the last two centuries had celebrated every July 4th just like her, with bottle rockets, sparklers and Roman candles—from the moment the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776 and declared, "That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES", until now. Independence from Great Britain, from tyranny and injustice … the little girl wished she could have been there on that first fourth. She would, however, be there for the last fourth; when another "shot heard around the world" would echo across the lands to herald the Great War of Final Independence.   Our imaginations are too limited to fathom the celebration! Jesus Himself, the Ultimate King of Kings, riding into battle on planet earth on His victorious white horse followed by his children … His family … all of us who by His grace place our very lives into His hands. The ensuing battle is not like any other. He alone does all the fighting. His only weapon is His word. He speaks and He conquers. "And He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"