Freedom to . . .

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Summer may be the time of year when we hear more about freedom that at any other time of year. With Memorial Day at the end of May and Independence Day at the beginning of July, it’s appropriate.

I got an email the other day requesting that churches make Sunday, June 2, a special day of prayer for our president. With all of the disagreements about politics that we hear all around us, it seems to me that we should be able to agree to do that one thing together — to pray for our president.

The idea is a Biblical one:

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers,
petitions and thanksgivings,
be made on behalf of all men,
for kings and all who are in authority,
so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life
in all godliness and dignity.
This is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior,
who desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4

I love what this passage says about the why of our entreaties and prayers. We should pray for those in authority so that we may “lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

Much of the discussion about freedom in relation to our national holidays is good. But too much of the talk we hear about freedom on other occasions concerns freedom to do whatever we want to do and too often freedom to do what God says is wrong.

God is kind to help us know how to live. His way works so much better than ours. It is often a struggle to teach that to our children, but the wise and thinking adult sees the truth in it.

May God bless our leaders:

. . . so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life
in all godliness and dignity.
1 Timothy 2:2b

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