It was for freedom that
Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again
to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1
Eleanor Roosevelt once said Freedom makes a huge
requirement of every human being. With
freedom comes responsibility. For the
person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his
own weight, this is a frightening prospect.
These words ring true with Christians as well. We have been set free with the freedom Christ
gave us but, we have a responsibility to make the right choice, and sometimes
the right choice is the hard choice. For
the Christian that is unwilling to accept the responsibility that goes with the
freedom, it should be a frightening prospect.
I am free to do whatever I please
... and responsible for whatever it is I choose. God's desire and design is
that I use it to live and act in Christ.
As many young people know, sometimes making the choice to live and act
in Christ is not always the choice that will gain you popularity or
friends. But if your “friends” are not
your friends if you choose not to do something because of your Christian
values, then they are not really your “friends”, are they?
In this world, everything to which we may become attached
requires that we sacrifice our freedom. That's certainly true of government, which
taxes our paychecks, and passes laws that circumscribe our very comings and
goings. That's certainly true of
family...in fact taking on the responsibilities of a family requires perhaps a
larger sacrifice of one’s freedom than almost anything I know. Not to mention the freedoms that we sacrifice
to much lesser things, like houses and cars and furniture, and all those
possessions that end up taking possession of us. The numbers of people enslaved
to debt, alcohol or other drugs, work, power, pornography, fame, electronics,
shopping, the most and the latest; and endless other addictions show the power
of poor use of our freedom. You were
once free and then you made a commitment to a job, to a marriage, to have
children, to buy a house, own a boat, get a car and then responsibility for these
things claimed your life.
Some are even slaves of religion and never experience the
freedom Christ came to give. That is the
purpose of Paul’s writing. Of all the
freedoms that we lose because we can’t handle freedom, this is the most
tragic. When a believer chooses to
follow Christ, it is not to be bound, but free.
The great paradox of the Christian faith is the freedom we find in
servitude to Him. For Jesus makes it
clear that He came to set men free.
Freedom in Christ comes by only having one Lord and not being consumed
with multiple lords.
Every commitment we have made limits the next decision we
will make in our lives. Every choice has
consequences, though, and sometimes in making one choice, one decision, you
find that once you are on the other side of that decision, once it is in the
past and the decision made, you are now limited in what choices you are free to
make next.
We are free to choose, but those choices have long-term
consequences. That's why Jesus said, "Count the cost."
Scripture to Claim:
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant[b] of Christ. Galatians 1:10
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant[b] of Christ. Galatians 1:10
