Freedom From Want

On January 6th, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his State of the Union speech to Congress and articulated four freedoms which he said were fundamental American values. These freedoms were, Freedom of Worship, Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Fear, and Freedom from Want.

Norman Rockwell made a series of paintings to correspond with these four freedoms which were then circulated in the Saturday Evening Post from February to March 1943. The most famous of the four paintings was the one titled Freedom from Want.

In this famous painting a large family is gathered around a dinner table. The picture is full of happy faces and lots and lots of food. But the focus of the picture is an elderly woman setting down a cooked turkey which is big enough to feed a small village. Mr. Rockwell is a wonderful painter but I believe he gravely missed the point in his depiction of the freedom from want. He would even later say of his work that the painting better depicted overabundance, or perhaps overindulgence.

The origin of Thanksgiving in the United States goes back to the founding of the country. Today, the holiday is a time when friends and family gather together to eat too much food and watch too much television. Many still use this time to reflect on reasons to be thankful. A worldwide time of thanksgiving would be a great idea - but first we could use a much better concept of thankfulness and what it really means to have freedom from want.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Giving thanks should never be dependent on our circumstances - never based on what we have, how full our table or bank account. True thankfulness only comes by understanding the gift of Salvation, the joy of eternal glory, and who we are in Christ living as a child of God. Paul expressed this thankfulness best in his letter to the Philippians: "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:12-13).

True and lasting thanksgiving is only obtained through faith in Jesus Christ and God's free gift of Salvation, and then by living with an understanding of what this gift implies. This is a Biblical freedom. Contentment is not obtained by having more, but by understanding what we already have in Christ. If we understood what we already have, we would have the freedom to want nothing more. Let's learn the secret of a thankful heart. Let's begin to understand His gift and then live in peace with a true freedom from want.