The air is warm, the trees are budding, the creeping things are bountiful, Spring is here! The glorious weather this weekend enabled us to accomplish much in yard clean up. My little helpers enjoyed the fruit of their labor by gliding down their slide into the heart of leaf mountain. They were also busy observing and collecting bugs, my oldest informed me that the final count of insects inspected or captured was 72, this included a pile of ants that the boys guessed to number around 42, they are very scientific. As the day went on they seemed concerned about releasing their six legged prisoners, “because Daddy, everyone needs their freedom” as my almost 5 year old aptly stated. His statement struck me because I’ve been studying freedom in the Bible for the last week. My son is right that freedom is precious. The very idea of it is inspiring and exciting. Freedom is so precious that wars are fought for it, and when the law is broken the criminal’s right to freedom is revoked. It’s the greatest reward when it’s given and the greatest punishment when it’s removed. Freedom is having liberty or independence and not being subject to the control of someone else. Freedom is not determined by anything beyond its own nature or being and it is not obstructed, restricted, impeded, bound, confined, or detained by any force. When you really consider this definition you have to wonder, is anyone truly free?