Happy Independence Day! I hope you are enjoying the holiday. Our devotional today begins with a bit of July 4th trivia.
- What is known as “The Dunlap Broadside” was first printed on July 4, 1776. Copies of this broadside were read to announce independence in New York on July 9th and in Boston on July 18th. Only 26 copies of this broadside are known to exist (the 26th was recently discovered in the collections of the British National Archives). It is the earliest of the documents to have actually been done on July 4th.
- John Adams’ Draft Copy of the Declaration of Independence was written by hand and included in the Addams Family Papers. It is one of the early drafts later to be amended and changed by the full Continental Congress.
- On July 3, 1776, John Adams sent a letter to his wife, Abigail. In this letter, Adams predicts the great celebrations which would mark future Independence Days (but he suggests it will be 2 July, not 4 July, which would be so honored: “But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” We ought to remember that Congress voted for independence on July 2nd, and approved the text of the Declaration two days later.
As believers we have our “Independence Day.” We celebrate it during Easter Week every year. The Apostle Paul gives us this brief explanation:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV).
We should not diminish the act of the Founders and all those who fought and died for our political freedom; however, we must remember that the greatest freedom is not derived from a political solution. It comes only through the work of grace in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus! Enjoy your holiday and remember the real freedom waiting for you in eternal life through Jesus!