As we celebrate national independence and freedom today, it is important for us to remember that ultimate freedom is not achieved through independence. Independently we only inherit death as a consequence of our own sin. Every human being is fully dependant on God for their next breath (Isaiah 42:5; Acts 17:25), and even the animals are dependant on God for their very being (Psalm 29:9, 104:21-30, 147:9). While all creatures are entirely dependent on God for everything, Christians glory in this dependence because "there is included in the nature of faith, a sensibleness, and an acknowledgement of this absolute dependence on God" (Jonathan Edwards, God Glorified in Man's Dependence).

Here is some Independence Day encouragement to fully depend on God from two of my favorite preachers:

The way of reaching this state of justification is not by tears, nor prayers, nor humblings, nor working, nor Bible-reading, nor church-going, nor chapel-going, nor sacraments, nor priestly absolution, but by faith, which faith is a simple and utter dependence and believing in the faithfulness of God, a dependence upon the promise of God, because it is God's promise, and is worthy of dependence. It is a reliance with all our might upon what God has said. (Charles Spurgeon, Sermon No. 3392, Delivered on April 28th, 1867)

There is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God. The nature and contrivance of our redemption is such that the redeemed are in everything directly, immediately, and entirely dependent on God: they are dependent on him for all, and are dependent on him every way... Men are dependent on the power of God for every exercise of grace, and for carrying on the work of grace in the heart, for the subduing of sin and corruption, and increasing holy principles, and enabling to bring forth fruit in good works, and at last bringing grace to its perfection, in making the soul completely amiable in Christ's glorious likeness, and filling of it with satisfying joy and blessedness; and for the raising of the body to life, and to such a perfect state, that it shall be suitable for an habitation and organ for a soul so perfected and blessed... Let us be exhorted to exalt God alone, and ascribe to him all the glory of redemption. Let us endeavor to obtain, and to increase in, a sensibleness of our great dependence on God, to have our eye on him alone, to mortify a self-dependent, and a self-righteous disposition. (Jonathan Edwards, God Glorified in Man's Dependence, Delivered in the Fall of 1730)