“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB)
Although the movie “Braveheart” had its inaccuracies concerning the life of that infamous Scotsman, William Wallace, the one quote that stood out for me was “They may take our lives but they’ll never take our freedom!!” and then they go into battle. The word freedom has become a precious commodity to all of humankind. Many wars have been fought for this idea of freedom. Over time however, man has polluted freedom as a privilege by the decree of one constitution or another instead of treating it as it was intended to be…a gift given to us by God. Now don’t go getting’ all nutso with me by Americanizing it, freedom is a gift from God period!
The formula is simple, God made us with minds so we can think freely, He made us with hearts so we could love freely and He made us with wills so we could obey freely. Our God wants us to be able to choose the way we should go instead of putting a ring in your nose and dragging our fanny perpendicular’s down the road. Now nothing can please The Father better than choosing Truth, the life that is found is Jesus and to freely obey and worship Him BUT there is a downside to this gift of freedom. The freedom to reject all this and hit the dead end of freedom out of control.
In the 8th chapter of John’s Gospel we find Jesus trying to explain what will actually bring freedom to the Jewish nation but in their typical “that’s certainly not us” fashion they fall back on being children of Abraham and therefore absolved of any connection to evil to which Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34) This is the same mindset that beleaguers Christendom today. Most pew warmers are content to say “that’s certainly not us” all based on agreeing with a Pastor’s sermon, writing a tithe check and just being in God’s House. That’s all fine and well but it ain’t enough.
The truth here to understand is that Jesus Christ came to set us free and we can find His job description in Isaiah 61:1-2a. But if really you wanna see freedom in action turn to Luke 4:16-21. Jesus walks into a synagogue in Nazareth, is handed a scroll, rolls it open and points right at the prophecy of the “favorable year of the Lord”, then sits down and says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Now when I went looking for the “truth” about myself I found this web thingy called Truthfinder and when I plugged in my name in I found that I had 6 possible criminal records and if I gave them about thirty bucks I could get the complete report. I think I’m keeping my loot.
I’m not saying that there aren’t a possible 6 criminal records bearing my name but what I am saying is that Jesus Christ came to set me free from that payment because the bottom line is I ain’t got enough to pay for the actual sin nature of those records. If I were to use my “go to” for an answer I’d find myself in James 2:5, “Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” So why bother with Truthfinder in the first place? Anyway…
There is a lot more to say about freedom but I’m outta time today. Bet you’re wondering why my title ain’t matching the content of this Freedom Fighter, well I’ll be getting to it, don’t you worry about that. Until then I ask you to think about something today and it is a quote that comes from an 18th century French philosopher. Jean-Jacques Rousseau said that, “Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” Sad…but true. When I am with you again we’ll cover what Charles Swindoll calls “The most universal of all addictions.” Hopefully it hasn’t got that much of a hold on you. Amen?
Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) is married (Kathy) with two adult children (Kevin and Karen) and has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.
