Friday; June 19

There was good news on June 19, 1865.  After decades of slavery, freedom had finally come to the whole country.  The reading of General Order Number 3 by General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas brought an end to slavery in the United States.  Again, that was the good news; but there was some distress as well.  You see, the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued almost three years earlier in 1862.  General Lee had surrendered to the Union Army in April – over two months before.  Freedom had come; but for some, their freedom had been delayed. 

From a practical perspective we can see how this could happen – news didn’t travel the way it does today – but individually, people could have enjoyed freedom much earlier.  As I thought about this, I got to wondering how many people who could be free today are still living in some kind of bondage.  Maybe it is the guilt of past sin or the affliction of an addition.  It could be the constraints of an abusive relationship or the pain of anxiety. 

If you are restrained by something in your life, are you ready to be released to enjoy the liberty that is available?  The good news is that freedom is possible, are we ready to embrace it?

         Think About It!

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