Saturday, August 13, 2011

Freedom in Christ.....


It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.   Galatians 5:1
Freedom, it is what all desire and many have died to obtain and protect.  It is why revolutions are initiated and why wars are fought.  But what does freedom mean for the Christian?  The bible tells us that whom the Son sets free is free indeed.  But free from what?  To be free from something suggests that prior to being freed one was in bondage.  For the Christian, the battle for freedom is won in the mind - not by might and not by power. Paul, while imprisoned - locked up and behind bars, was freer than his jailers because He knew and applied the truth of the Gospel and that is what set Him free.  Jesus Himself, bound and nailed to the cross, facing certain death, was freer than those who placed Him there because He was in fact the epitome and personification of freedom.  Freedom is to be free from anything that binds us, holds us captive or enslaves us - preventing us from doing the will of the Father as He commands.  It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are made free from sin.  When we choose to believe in Him and the completeness and fullness of His sufficiency, we are free.  It is amazing the freedom that is available to us, yet we oftentimes choose to remain enslaved.  Christ has provided freedom, but to take advantage of that freedom and really live in it we must choose to do so.  
I believe in Jesus Christ and I trust and depend on Him, however, there are times and situations when I would have liked to believe that I was trusting Him, but in actuality I was not.  When my mother passed away, it was a difficult and trying time - not solely due to her passing- but more so because of the lack of relationship between us. Most people will never understand that - after all, there is nothing more precious than a relationship between a mother and her child. This was not the case in my situation.  There was a great deal of hurt in my heart and I could not seem to let go of it (in actuality I chose not to let go of it).  When I left home to attend college, I never looked back. I returned home very infrequently.  I thought by moving away I would be free from that hurt and pain. I had a very loving and blessed upbringing, however, I was missing and longing for a close mother/daughter relationship.  Relationally, my father became both mother and father to me.  He was a living, breathing example of the love of Jesus.  Seeing his love for Christ in action is what inspired my pursuit of Christ. Even with this great foundation in Christ I was still in bondage when it came to relating to my mother.   Instead of asking God to remove that hurt (as I had done as it related to other areas of my life) I embraced that hurt and allowed it to drive an even further wedge between us.  I stayed away because it was easier to seemingly remove myself from the source of the hurt than to deal with it. Physically leaving home did not free me from the bondage of that hurt. There were a myriad of different issues surrounding my mother’s care, the house, the estate.  It became overwhelming and I did not handle any of it well.  I sit here now, looking back on that time, wondering how I can profess Christ and the liberty that He provides, and have been so bound.  I acted as if He did not own a cattle on a thousand hills; I acted as if He was not a deliverer; I acted on my own power, taking the lead instead of following Him.  At the end of it all I was a failed witness for Him.  Freedom was available to me because He died to set me free.  But I was living an enslaved existence in this situation because I did not choose to walk in that freedom.  The freedom needed to occur in my heart and mind by asking God to break those chains of slavery.  Freedom was not going to be obtained by moving away. Changing location is just geography - where I went, my heart and mind went also - and my heart and mind were unchanged.  I did not stand firm and I allowed myself to be burdened by a yolk of slavery.  
Freedom comes from applying His word to every situation.  It comes from trusting and believing that His way is the only way.  Everything else is bondage. Trusting in your own strength is bondage.  Trusting in your own mind and heart is bondage.  Look at what was in my heart.  I trusted it, and ultimately failed.  I have spoken with so many people who are searching for freedom and the peace that it brings  -but they are searching within themselves, void of Jesus; and unfortunately, they will never find it. Let us pray for one another that we stand firm (in the Word of God) and do not allow ourselves to become burdened again by a yolk of slavery.
Be blessed.....

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