If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36

During the national observance of the one hundredth anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, I was struck by the great emphasis on the number of immigrants who had often left everything behind, coming to America with nothing but the clothes on their backs, risking their very lives for something they valued more highly than everything they had left behind: freedom.

This is a picture of what we must do when we come to Christ. We must forsake allegiance to the things of this world and all that this world has to offer and become immigrants on the kingdom of God. His statue of liberty is in the form of the cross.

The statue in New York Harbor lifts her lamp “beside the golden door.”

The statue of liberty on Golgotha hill lights the way into the eternal life. That light is ours if we only come to God through the One who said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

This light gives freedom to men and women in the darkest of prisons in nations which are intolerant of the preaching of the gospel. One can have political freedom and still be a prisoner of sin, while one who is in a political prison and knows Christ can be more free than his jailers.

Freedom in Christ is the ultimate freedom to be celebrated not only on special days, but all year around.

Our Father and our God, thank You for the great liberty I have through Jesus Christ. I recognize that my freedom came at an enormous price to You and Your Son. And I bow in humble gratitude to You for that amazing gift. Help me to take the good news about Him to the tired, the poor, and the lonely masses who are longing to breathe free. Through Christ, the Liberator, Amen.

from Unto the Hills by Billy Graham