“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to live in freedom.” – Leviticus 26:13
God is still in the business of freeing people! What He did for the Israelites He wants to do for you and those you care about. Too many of us live enslaved to the fears, addictions, delights, concerns, and stuff of this world. We might hate what enslaves us or we might love it, but we remain chained to it – afraid, defensive, and feeling stuck. When offered a better and freer future, we struggle to imagine what it looks like or how to get there. That’s where God comes in!
God gave His Son Jesus to set men and women, boys and girls free. Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again so that all who put their faith in Him could live in true freedom. He frees us from death – though we will die, followers of Jesus will live on forever in the presence of God. He frees us from the penalty for our sins – by His sacrifice on the cross, we are reconciled to God. He frees us from loneliness and fear, because Christ lives within us forevermore – we are never alone and we need not fear. He empowers us to be free of the powerful appetites of our bodies and minds, that we might live truly free in God. He frees us from the labels this world sticks on us and that we stick upon ourselves and makes us children of God. He frees us from the crippling demands of transactional love and expectation-driven relationships, allowing us to live by the unearned gift of grace. He frees us from the relentless obsession with ourselves that ultimately drives us to the darkest and unhealthiest places imaginable, allowing us to instead grow in the One we were actually made to worship and love.
The reality is that we’re often so trapped by what enslaves us that we can’t even imagine how glorious true freedom is. In fact, we often think that the freedom offered by God is a burden, while the burden that crushes us daily is freedom. However God offers true, lasting, forever freedom through faith in Christ. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
#FOLLOWJESUS
NOTE: While Pastor Brian is on sabbatical, we offer this devotional which was originally published on March 11, 2020.