“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” John F. Kennedy

I watched the movie, “The Patriot” again recently.  It’s become a tradition, just like watching, “Ten Commandments” during Passover and Easter. The truth of overcoming hardship, deposing tyrannical rule, putting down a villainous adversary and doing so with truth on your side is something most of us hope for.

In the movie, we see a young widowed father of seven children, put away his younger days of valiant fighting in lieu of a career as a southern plantation owner and farmer.  He has had his fill of war.  Like most, who have fought the good fight, he is weary of it.  Testing the heart of a father, by taking the life of one of his children, is enough for this man to take up the sword once again.

This was the story of most patriots.  They were ordinary men and boys, fighting for the right to live freely.  Today, our freedom comes at an even higher price.  We’ve become accustomed to the liberties so many have fought and died for. We take for granted the ability to speak as we wish; to publish or air news stories in order to get ratings; to be tolerant of all kinds of behavior (even that which goes against God’s Law) for the sake of political correctness; to live as we wish without regard to civil law and even show disrespect to those who try to protect it. Our liberties have in fact given way to a carte blanche way of thinking for many. Licentiousness and arrogance have in fact taken the place of responsibility and the law.  By doing so, we have let the flag touch the ground and be trampled upon.

The final scenes of “The Patriot” show the father carrying the shredded flag which his oldest son rescued when he died in battle.  The “lost cause,” as the fight was often referred to, wasn’t lost at all.  The British army was defeated by a rag tag bunch of patriots with the fire of freedom burning within them.

As citizens of a free country, we continue to fight for that liberty to be a democracy by ruling ourselves. Our forefathers were willing to die for the cause.  Every day we’re confronted with life-or-death situations.  Are we ready to give our lives to fight for the same cause today? As followers of Christ, we know that our freedom from sin was also paid for with the greatest price ever – the blood of the Son of God took our sins to the cross and buried them forever.  Because of that we can truly say, we are free!