Sunday, July 18, 2004
For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.
(1 Corinthians 9.19
NRSV)
When Simon Bolivar led the nation of Peru to independence from Spain in 1924, they pleaded with him to become their first president. He refused. He said that his work was the work of liberation. Others were better suited to the task of governing. But still they wanted to honor him. So they offered him a gift of 1 million pesos. And he accepted the gift on one condition. He asked that he might supplement that gift with monies from his own estate, and then use all of that money together to purchase the freedom of the 3,000 individuals in Peru who were still slaves to other men. And he did exactly that. And when they asked him why he did it, this is what he said: "It makes little sense to free a nation unless all its citizens enjoy freedom as well."
Freedom is only a tool. It can never be an end in itself. We use freedom to find our dignity. We use freedom to find spiritual freedom in our savior, Jesus Christ.
Help someone find that freedom!
Loving God, may I use my gift for freedom to help someone come to know of your love. Amen.
Ron
Newhouse
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