"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
(John 8:36)
"Abraham Lincoln went to a slave market. There he noted a young, beautiful African-American woman being auctioned off to the highest offer. He bid on her and won. He could see the anger in the young woman’s eyes and could imagine what she was thinking, ’another white man will buy me, use me, and then discard me’. As Lincoln walked off with his ‘property’, he turned to the woman and said, ‘You’re free’. ‘Yeah. What does that mean?’ she replied. ‘It means that you’re free.’ ‘Does it mean I can say whatever I want to say?’ ‘Yes,’ replied Lincoln, smiling, ‘it means you can say whatever you want to say.’ ‘Does it mean,’ she asked incredulously, ‘that I can be whatever I want to be?’ ‘Yes, you can be whatever you want to be.’ ‘Does it mean,’ the young woman said hesitantly, ‘that I can go wherever I want to go?’ ‘Yes, it means you are free and you can go wherever you want to go.’ ‘Then,’ said the woman with tears welling up in her eyes, ‘I think I’ll go with you.’" (Recounted in a book by Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom)
As we approach July 4th, we are reminded of the freedoms we enjoy in our nation. But sadly, every year, we see our freedoms being threatened, and taken away.
But as Christians, we know that when we gave our hearts to Jesus Christ, we were set free from our sins for eternity. And in this life, we see our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ, break the chains of bondage caused by trials and temptation. In our freedom walk, our desire should be; to say as this slave girl did to Abraham Lincoln, "I think I'll go with you."
As the line of an old hymn says: "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
Over mountain or plain or sea;
I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I'll be what you want me to be."
Our freedom in Christ is the most precious blessing we have. In the framework of the will of our Lord, we can soar above those mountains of challenge that try to enslave us. We can experience the joy and peace, of a present relationship with God, and the hope for the future, that is brighter than anything the world can offer us!
As the eagle catches an air current, and soars to unimaginable heights; let's let Jesus be the wind beneath our wings, and enjoy the freedom, that only He can give! GP
Photo: Klappe/46 images/Pixabay License/Free for commercial use/No attribution required/www.pixabay.com