“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

In the “land of the free and the home of the brave”, we bristle at the thought of not being free, but how free are we?

True freedom begins when we submit to God, but we live in a world that is less and less willing to acknowledge God in any way and so, by default, we are deluding into thinking that we are the final authority on what is good and what is evil.

Consider these words from a decision from the United States Supreme Court –

“At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”

Justice Anthony Kennedy

Is this the heart of liberty? Where does God fit into Justice Kennedy’s way of thinking? It appears he believes he can bypass God who created him and if so the “heart of liberty” is a delusion.

In his sermon, Alistair contrasted the well-known passage above with the Oscar-winning song of the year in 2013 from Disney’s Frozen, entitled “Let it Go.” Here’s a sampling of the lyrics –

It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free

The character in the movie represents another example of the kind of expressive individualism we’ve been discussing for the last couple of days.

Deuteronomy reminds us to always acknowledge our God as the one true God. He created us and all the world around us. He invites us to know him and to love him and our response is to submit to Him, to take His yoke and experience the kind of freedom He promises.