Today we honor the man, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the work he accomplished in the 1960’s.   I remember viewing his “I have a dream” speech on television as a young woman. I especially recall his words about looking forward rather than back.  To be truly free, we must put the past behind us,

The world has changed tremendously since Dr. King gave this address to a divided nation.  However some things have remained the same.  There still is injustice within our country.  Prejudice still remains and new divisions have occurred in the last 50 years.  Terrorism has reared its ugly head and cells are breaking out all over the place.  Because of that we have all lost a part of the freedom that our nation has shed so much blood to preserve.

We have to be careful what we say – how we respond to other cultures, ideas and beliefs – being so politically correct that our own faith is being placed on the line at times.  Have we really stopped looking back?  I think not.  We are probably now more afraid than ever that we might offend someone that we no longer have the freedom to stand up for what we feel is right.

I think Dr. King would have been deeply offended at the change that has occurred in our country.  His words of tolerance and peace have been tarnished to include tolerance for any kind of behavior.  The criminal often being revered while the peace officers are mocked.

To be truly free, we need to look forward.  Our destiny is not going to be determined by anything we do.  It has already been set by the Creator of the universe.  God is in control and the death and resurrection of His Son has set the entire world free from the sting of sin and death.  We are ALL free at last.  If we don’t realize that we will never be truly free.