Are You Free?

Now let me just start this with a short preface. The idea for this post came about 1AM last night, but I was too lazy to get up out of bed. However, after several minutes of internal strife of get up vs. go back to bed, I compromised and grabbed a notebook next to my bed that had long been buried in some books that I had recently moved as I am starting to pack for my new apartment.

Before I begin to get to the heart of the matter here is something else the Lord reminded me of as I was writing out my thoughts last night. The reason I was still up is because my roommates and I have yet to turn on our air conditioner this year in an effort to save money. Now, lately, this has made sleep, and time in my apartment as a whole, to be pretty miserable. But I was reminded last night of a billboard I saw on the highway once that said, “You think this is hot? –God.” While I am amused by the song that says “They don’t serve breakfast in Hell,” I think by Jars of Clay, I think a far greater issue for me is I doubt there is air conditioning; I can live without my raisin bran and cheerios. In all seriousness though, I’d most be grieved by eternal separation from the Lord and my Savior, so thank God, literally, He has secured me by His grace in the book of life.

So now that I am onto a more serious mood, I think I’m safe to broach into the essence of my blog: Are You Free?

Now what is freedom? Now among other things, Webster defines it as “The condition of being free of restraints, and liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression.” With all due respect to the good ole Webster, I think it’s far more than that. I think it is something that words can’t really do justice. Let me give you an example that will probably relate to you guys out there better. Think of the movie Braveheart. Now, this movie is one of my favorite movies. I can not watch it without getting my blood pumping and my adrenaline going. I think, in fact, that if I ran into a British person immediately after viewing it, I might actually attack them! But something about that movie speaks to me on a level beyond words. Something that moves me at my very core, as if we were designed to crave and fight for freedom just as the famous William Wallace. Something in me relates to him because I too have felt like a slave too often in life; I too have craved freedom with my whole being. And yet so much of my life, even now on occasion, I feel like a slave to my duty in life, my job, school, society as a whole, etc. The list goes on and on.

If I accept then that it seems like I was hard-coded by God to crave freedom and that something in the world seems to be constantly at odds with that desire, then that means some monumental things. But first, let me give you a little more background info on myself.

I grew up in a Bible believing family filled with devout church goers. I’m eternally grateful for this fact. And while I grew up in the church and knew the Lord practically from birth, deep down something was missing, and I didn’t discover it until college. The church I grew up in was a very by-the-book kind of church. If is says to do something in the Bible, you do it. If it says not to, you don’t. And if the Bible is silent on it, then in theory, so is the church (although history is replete with contradictions to this last fact). However, in this effort to be by the book, I started to be a Pharisee that was burdened by all the dos and don’ts. And as scripture says in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” However, when I graduated from high school and really begin to grow in my walk my freshman and sophomore years, I was eventually convicted by the Spirit to leave the church I grew up in and go to a new church, one which stresses a relationship with Christ, rather than rules. Now, I recognize that there is a balance there that even Paul could foresee by people manipulating grace to give them a way to conveniently ignore those dos and don’ts. But Grace is so much bigger than that. Jesus died on the cross, not so we could do anything (even the best things we can do are like filth to Him), so that He could save us and have a relationship with us. That’s the Gospel in a nutshell.

So now let me get back to my original question. Are you free? Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Now, call me crazy and call me a heretic, but I don’t think that living a life of following the rules is an abundant life. And if it was, why did Jesus come? That’s essentially what the Jews were already doing. And I’m also not saying that gives you a license to do what you want (Romans 6:1-2). I recognize that not everything that is permissible is beneficial (1 Corinthians 6:12).

But God has made it abundantly clear that He has a great plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11-14), and that relationship with Him is so far beyond what I can and can’t do. Now, as John says and Jesus said is John 14:6, if you love Him, you will obey my commandments. But they will follow naturally. They will not be burdensome. If you don’t believe me, read Romans 7 and 8. See the difference. I’m not saying this or making this up. It’s in the book. And I recognize that many have said and will continue to say this better. So if you question this, dig on your own but dig in His word for your answers.

Now while I’m on this tangent, let me briefly touch on a soapbox for me now. It deals with Romans 14:13, also known as the stumbling block verse. “But rather, determine this- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.” Now, I recognize that we are called to be above reproach so as not to defame Christ by our actions. That makes sense to me. But so often in life, I have been so concerned with not offending people or being a stumbling block that I have hindered the work of the Lord. Case in point, I have before on several occasions passed up an opportunity to witness that the Lord provided because I didn’t want to come across judgmental and harm someone’s walk with God to someone who was living in sin. Well, I certainly didn’t come across judgmental… and I didn’t share the Gospel either. What do you think is more important? If we are spending our whole lives trying not to be a “stumbling block,” we might as well be living by the law. One, it’s not possible, and two, you’ll lose you focus on what others think from what God has said. If you are focusing on God, you will not be a stumbling block, you will not be going against the very essence of grace on a continual basis, and He will take care of you. God is Sovereign; love Him, trust in Him, and Serve Him. Focus on that, not what you can and can’t or should and shouldn’t do.

Let me close it with Galatians 5:1. “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Need I say more? Don’t take my word on it. I’m nobody… take God’s.