True and lasting freedom only comes through complete and total bondage.  At least that’s how I read God’s Word.  As is true with so many things, God’s ways of defining freedom are quite different from the world’s.

From the beginning of time, God created human beings to be free.  We were given instructions for our good, along with the freedom to decide whether or not to follow those instructions.  “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…'”  Genesis 2:16-17.  We know how that ended, don’t we?  Adam and Eve did what any of us would have done in the same situation:  they used their God-given freedom to disobey God’s command.  So, what is God’s response to our willful disobedience?  When we cry out for mercy, God hears us and issues freedom once again.  “In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.”  Psalm 118:5  God seems to be intent upon blessing His people with freedom.

But what does true freedom really look like?  How can we begin to break the cycles of bondage and live more fully in the freedom God desires for us?  Ironically, we enjoy the greatest freedom when we are most bound to God’s instructions for us in His Word.  I absolutely love the imagery of Psalm 119:32.  “I run in the paths of your commands, for you have set my soul free.”  The psalmist reminds us that God’s commands are not restrictive, but rather they free us to run along the paths of life!  Jesus Himself told the Jews of his day who had believed in Him:  “If you hold to my teaching . . . then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free . . . so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:31, 32, 36

As with so many of God’s good gifts, we are often tempted to taint the gift of freedom to match our own selfish desires.  God, in His goodness, has provided warnings against the misuse of our freedom in Christ to justify sinful behavior.  “You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love.”  Galatians 5:13  “Live as free men,  but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil.”  1 Peter 2:16

May God grant us grace to faithfully embrace and enjoy the freedom that is ours in Jesus.  Through faith in Christ, we are set free from sin!  May we exchange the chains of sin for bondage to love and goodness for Christ’s sake.  May we freely run the paths of righteousness so that others may also experience true freedom that only comes from being bound to the Lord Jesus 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 . . .         The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”  Galatians 5:1,6