[Darris McNeely] Do we understand that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance? We did a recent television program Beyond Today called "The Spirit of Liberty." We also did one on the consequences of sin. They both kind of work together quite well. The "Spirit of Liberty" was set within the context of the American Revolution, the "Consequences of Whatever Happened to Sin" was set within the context of our modern culture and people being caught up in sin, not really knowing and understanding about that.

The scripture that came to my mind after looking at the program this past week was in 2 Corinthians 3:17 where it says, "Now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." God's spirit produces true liberty, true freedom. And it's important to understand that.

In the program about liberty we were talking about the origins of the United States as a nation. One of the frames of reference that came out of that period of time was that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. I ran across a couple of statistics recently that show just how much Americans are keeping up with what's taking place. 40% of Americans don't know that Obamacare, what is the health care act recently passed, is actually a law. They don't see it as that. And also 65% of people in the United States cannot name one Supreme Court Justice.

The lack of information that people have about what's going on is really one of the dangers to a democracy staying free and staying as it should be, and that's potentially a problem in maintaining one's liberty. But when it comes to our spiritual lives and our spiritual relationship, where God's spirit is there is true liberty.

We've got to understand that if we are to maintain a freedom from the consequences of sin. God's spirit gives us that ability to discern good from evil, right from wrong, and to live a life that is truly free. And the price of that type of spiritual freedom is eternal vigilance with God's spirit opening our heart and our mind to understand that. It's a very important concept, but it requires that we stay informed about God's way of life, God's word, and how it applies to our life today in a very complicated modern world.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.