The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners…  (Isaiah 61:1).

Today is a holiday.

Juneteenth

Today we celebrate freedom for the captives, an end to slavery. It is good and right that we should do this.

There’s a bunch of political and social tension surrounding this holiday, but I choose to celebrate it for what it is–the joyful culmination of a long and bitter fight to end a great evil. Praise God.

Beloved, there is an irony built into this holiday that we shouldn’t ignore. On paper, the slaves had been free for well over two years prior to June 19, 1865.

They just didn’t know it–and their captors weren’t about to tell them.

Christ Jesus came to set a world full of captives free from the power of sin and death. He has paid the price, and we are free.

But some don’t know it yet–and their captor isn’t about to tell them. So they continue to live in bondage, waiting for a freedom that has already been bought.

Spread the Word, Beloved.

Happy Juneteenth