I am the Lord your God,
who brought you
out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery
Exodus 20:2
Yesterday I announced our theme for fall: Freedom!
Look at the list above. I wrote down the first 125 things that I could think of that average people are in bondage to. And then as soon as I printed it, 50 more enslaving events and attitudes leapt to mind!
I heard a few people say: “Wow, when I look at that list, I get really depressed.”
But I loved the woman who came out and said instead, “Wow, when I look at that list, I see how many things God has set me free from!”
Do you see the mental shift? (And I will continue to make this point …) Yes, we are easily enslaved, but God’s greatest desire is to set us free!
Wait … notice the verb: “God desires.” Spiritual freedom, emotional health, and transforming joy is God’s absolute desire for each of us.
And yet if that’s the case, why aren’t we all free?
It’s because God is a gentleman. He allows us to choose our own paths! Freewill means that we can choose God’s way (which leads to freedom) … or worldly, selfish, human ways (which foolishly, willfully, stubbornly, sinfully keep leading to mess in us and around us). God’s way brings freedom, hope, light, and joy. Indeed, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor 3:17). But how many of us haven’t yielded our full hearts to the Spirit. We do things our own way, and we keep getting worldly results.
Deuteronomy 1:2 tells us that it could have been an 11 day journey from Mt. Sinai to edge to the Jordan and the Promised Land. It took them forty years! The point? How many of us wander aimlessly for years and years too – whining, complaining, and playing the victim.
· When we choose unforgiveness, we’re choosing a life of bitterness and despair.
· When we choose worldly priorities (idolatry), we’re refusing to be blessed by kingdom principles.
· When we place our own personal logic on the throne of our heart (another form of idolatry – self-idolatry), we’re actively choosing to not be blessed by God’s wisdom.
· When we choose not to follow God’s commands, we’re choosing the negative consequences that we reap.
· When we pridefully choose to do things our own way, we consistently get human results rather than experiencing the power of God.
· And then we blame God for discouragement, guilt, meaninglessness, consequences, and despair that we kept choosing.
Dear friends in Christ, God desires to set you free!
Indeed, God desires for you to say like my friend, “Wow, when I look at that list, I see how many things God has set me free from!”
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who is the anti-Santa
(Instead of making a list
and checking it twice,
I’m checking things off my list
by the power of God!)
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