Trading Away God's Gifts

For freedom Christ set us free. So stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
--Galations 5:1

Here is what I believe. Because God created each of us in his image, his most important gifts to us are life and freedom (God is perfectly free). Freedom in this sense is the right to pursue one's interests peacefully--i.e., without forcibly interfering with the rights of others to do the same.

His gifts of life and freedom are not mutually exclusive. Choosing to live life according to God's will necessarily requires the freedom to do so. Just as Jesus was free to walk the path to the cross, so too are each of us free to choose our paths.

Indeed, Easter is the consummate celebration of life and freedom. Christ's resurrection reminds us of the sanctity of life--eternal life--that can only be obtained through free will.

Because life and freedom come from God, no one on this earth can rightfully take them from us. It follows, then, that we are obligated to steward these sacred gifts to the best of our ability. We should not squander them in worthless trades, and we must defend them if need be when they are forcibly threatened.

Yet, we often fail to protect our freedoms (and the life that is necessarily connected to them) when they are endangered. We live stark examples of this failure whenever we obediently bow to earthly proposals or edicts that would have us trade or surrender essential freedoms for modicums of safety.

It is hard to imagine a deal the devil would like more, for Satan knows that it is a free life rather than a secure life that leads us to God.

Yet I fear this is precisely the trade many have been making over the past several weeks. Draconian 'lockdown' orders from policymakers that infringe on liberty in the name of safety are being met largely with acquiescence rather than pushback. People by the millions are conceding, often gladly, personal freedom in exchange for what amounts to participation in government-backed programs proposed to provide some measure of protection against a perceived health threat.

Judge Nap articulates the unconstitutional nature of these policies as only he (with God's grace, of course) can do. But the problem lies not just with policymakers. Their programs could not be implemented without a general willingness among the people to make the trade. The Judge warns liberty, once surrendered to government, is difficult to claw back.

The irony, then, is this. Trading freedom for security proposed to preserve life today may do anything but in the long run.

Make sure you understand the consequences of this trade before you make it.