Freedom!!!

I remember the feeling, when I was younger, at the end of the school year.  FREEDOM!  I remember the feeling of going off to college.  FREEDOM!  I remember the feeling of moving into my first house away from home in the summer.  FREEDOM!  I remember getting married…wait that is another topic.

Freedom is something that all people yearn to have.  For some, freedom is the right to do just whatever they feel like doing without the restraint of rules.  This is not freedom.  Some think of freedom as the allowance to think outside the box and express oneself.  This is a type of freedom, but it is not the highest freedom.  Still others think of freedom in the simplest of ways.  They just want to be out from under physical oppression at the hands of some ruthless person.  This is sad and certainly is freedom.

Real freedom is the knowledge that you have nothing to worry about for eternity.  When we confine ourselves to the discussion of freedom as it relates to this physical world, we severely limit the term.  When a person looks past this world to the next, he or she enjoys real freedom.

The Bible teaches, “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (II Corinthians 3:17).  The freedom that is found in Jesus is not about releasing anyone from the oppression of a tyrant.  Real freedom is learning to live free in oppression. 

Freedom is also about responsibility.  Paul wrote, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13).  It sounds ironic to say that Christians have been freed to put themselves at the disposal of others!  Real freedom works in behalf of other people. 

Think about how this works.  You are free to serve without being served in return.  You are free to serve without anyone even knowing the service you have performed.  You are free to serve people who don’t even like you.  You are free to serve when no one else wants to help.  There are probably many other aspects of the ways in which real freedom allows us to serve others.

Here is the summary of all of these things.  If the Spirit of the Lord is present with us when are going through oppressive times in this world, we are still free.  If the Spirit of the Lord is with us when we leave this oppressive world, we are really free!

-Mike Johnson