fINDING FREEDOM
Opposites make such great comparisons.
Sweet and Salty…
Tall and short…
Up and Down…
The comparisons are easy to understand because we have experienced both things and know the difference between the two. The differences can deepen our understanding of the two opposite concepts. I love sweet things in part because I can contrast them to salty things. My understanding of what sweet means is deepened by my experience of what it means for something to be salty.
I think freedom is another concept that works in the same way. Consider that one opposite of freedom is bondage. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I know that I am free. I am free from all the sin that entangled me before I came to salvation in Christ (Hebrews 12:1). I am justified and sanctified by His work on the cross and I will dwell in Heaven for all of eternity after this life is through (Romans 3: 23-30). That is a beautiful thought to think about. The enormity of that truth is deepened, however, when I consider the bondage that I was in before Jesus.
Before knowing Christ I was a slave to sin. My mind was darkened by the depravity of the world around me and by my own sinful nature. I was in the pit and held by chains of my own making (Psalm 103). There in the darkness there was no freedom, no hope, no joy. There was only pain masquerading as pleasure, bondage pretending to be freedom and despair selling itself as hope.
Then I met Jesus.
No more did I dwell in the pit, held by chains. He pulled me out with His mighty right hand and set my feet upon the rock of His salvation (Psalm 40). Now I am truly free and can experience the hope and joy that comes with being a child of God. Paul emphasizes this idea in Galations 5:1 where he says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” My understanding of freedom is deepened by the memory of what used to be my life. I don’t have to feel the weight of the chains of my old sin anymore. I am free! I am so thankful!
Have you found true freedom?
Hoping in Him~ Tracie Durham, Little Rock, AR
Tracie Durham is a Body & Soul® Instructor in Central Arkansas. She is a home school momma to three amazing kiddos and wife to a fire chief. Tracie loves to think deeply about the things of Jesus and write and reflect on His Word. Her hope is that this post blesses you and brings honor and glory to God.
