Freedom

I really want to open this with a clever quote of some kind, something that will get your attention and reel you in. However, more and more I’m discovering God hasn’t dealt with me that way, why should I you? I want to ask a question, one that will require complete honesty on your part. Moreover, I’m really not talking to anyone but you, just you. Not the other people tagged in this note- YOU. I want to have this conversation face to face, but at this moment, that’s quite impossible, so this will have to do…

Are you free?

I mean, really free?

You see, I’ve found in recent conversations that we have somehow bought into a fabrication, an illusion, a mirage, a LIE. We’ve somehow believed that we can be more free than someone else, or that the bondage we have in our lives is somehow so much less terrible than that bondage we see so and so in. The problem is- it’s a lie. Let me put it this way:

You’re chained to a wall. A wall of brick, stone, granite, you name it- a wall. The extension of your chains gives you quite a bit of room to walk around and meet the other prisoners in your cell. As you talk with a friend, someone who’s been there so much longer than you have, you notice that their chains are all over them- ankles, wrists, waist, even their neck is bound by this strong fetter. You pity the man, feel sorry for your friend and long to see him free. Others around you- so many are bound. You think to yourself that the one chain holding you to the wall is nothing and you are much better off than the others. The problem is- you’re still chained. You are not free. You see, there is not a middle ground in this land. There is no gray area of freedom as if you are more free than someone else. You are either free or you are captive. Period. Jesus Christ came to set the captives free. REALLY FREE. Not half free, not down to one ankle of captivity, completely free. The freedom that comes only through His taking your place. The freedom that comes only through trading your life for His. The freedom that comes through becoming a slave and giving up any rights you thought you had.

Are you living in that freedom? The freedom that lives in a way that nothing other than the Holy Spirit directs your way. No one other than Jesus Christ leads you anywhere? That’s the thing- somehow we’ve believed that we are allowed to waver and stray and flip flop back and forth between master Jesus and master __________. That’s not what scripture says- if you don’t believe me- read 1 John, it’ll blow your mind. The deal is pretty simple- if the Holy Spirit tells you to do something and you need to check “real quick” with something else if you can do it, you’re asking permission to act from that thing and placing your obedience in its hands; that is bondage.

Do you even know that you’re in bondage? I didn’t. The devil is sneaky that way. He’s cunning, clever, and very practiced. He lies when speaking every time. So there’s the litmus test- if you have to make anything that Jesus said relative to any situation in order to excuse any action you’re taking in any way towards anyone- you’re in bondage. When the Truth that is Jesus Christ becomes relative in His commands and word, you’re being deceived into thinking that something else is just as important as He is; you’ve taken the yoke of a different master. Peter told us that the thing which you obey is your master; you are a slave to it. That is supposed to be Jesus. He claims the absolute role, but reserved you the ability to disobey. I don’t know what that is if it’s not pure love.

I’m not going to finish this with a joke or a song. This is serious business. We have denied God’s glory as sovereign too often and allow Him to be mocked too often. I’m serious, read 1 John, if you find yourself writing anything off as “one way to look at it” or “well things have changed for us now” or “that was meant for those specific readers” or even “I’m not sure that’s quite a literal statement” you can be sure that you’re not where Jesus wants you. Period. One chain is enough to keep you from being free, but it costs the right to lead and decide your own steps in life to lose them all for good. That’s what Jesus said. Period.