Let’s not waste a moment of our liberty

It took a special kind of grit to walk off the plantation with nothing but faith and the clothes on one’s back. But, friend, that’s what many Texas slaves did as soon as they learned they were free on June 19,1865. That goal of freedom pushed them to establish independent communities known as freedman colonies. My mother’s family hails from Armstrong Colony, one of these black settlements.

Holy Spirit spoke to me and said that “disempowered” would not have been the first thought in those ex-slaves’ minds and mouths. With their faith in God and great hope, they sit out to start life anew in freedom.
Today we celebrate Juneteenth. Abraham Lincoln had already issued the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years earlier, but the Texas slaves didn’t know it. Texas slaves gathered before the courthouse in Galveston, Texas, and Major General Gordon Granger read the emancipation proclamation in their hearing. They were so excited to be free that they named it Jubilee Day, and eventually, the celebration spread from Texas throughout the United States. President Biden recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021, mainly due to Opal Lee’s and other leaders’ hard work.

Friend, do you know that Jesus has set you free? We have a greater freedom day as Jesus liberated us from sin, death, and eternal separation from God. He gave us all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:30). Then, he sent Holy Spirit to empower us to live this abundant life. Let’s be bold like those former Texas slaves. Let’s walk off the plantation of sin and go forward into the freedom and liberty God has purchased for us (Galatians 5:1). Let’s not waste a moment of our liberty.