Towering above New York Harbor is the Statue of Liberty. For more than 100 years, that stately lady, with freedom's torch held high, has beckoned millions of people who are choking from the stifling air of tyranny and oppression. They've been drawn to what that monument symbolizes—freedom.

Inscribed on Lady Liberty's pedestal are the deeply moving words by Emma Lazarus: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

A different monument towers over history, offering spiritual freedom to enslaved people throughout the world. It's the Roman cross where Jesus Christ hung 2,000 years ago. At first the scene repels. Then we see the sinless Son of God dying in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. From the cross we hear the words "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34) and "It is finished!" (John 19:30). As we trust in Christ as our Savior, the heavy burden of guilt rolls from our sin-weary souls. We are free for all eternity.

Have you heard and responded to the invitation of the cross?  — Dennis J. De Haan