You. Yes, YOU!
Drop everything you are doing right now at this moment. I have some very exciting news for you. You have just won a FREE day to do anything you want to do! Throw away your To-Do list and toss it out the window. Everything is taken care of for you today. You have 24 hours all to yourself. Congratulations!
So, what is the first thing that jumps into your mind that you would want to do? Dance party? Maybe how fast you can get to Starbucks (just keeping it real)? Or perhaps a thought popped in your mind to enjoy a day at a spa. Now that would be refreshing!
Okay, confession time. You did not win a FREE day “off” today, but how did that make you feel for a moment if that was indeed a true possibility? Did your energy levels perk up? Did you dream of things that would make you feel relaxed and rejuvenated? Did you shout: FREEDOM!!!?
Take that feeling and roll with me for a moment. What if I told you that you CAN experience those feelings of joy and freedom EVERY day?
Galatians 5:1 says- “It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed].”
The yoke of slavery that Paul is referring to in this verse is a life obedient and dependent to the Mosaic Law (the law the teachers followed before Jesus arrived on the scene). This yoke was removed when Jesus Christ died on the cross, took the keys of death and liberated those who believed in Him. As a result, we can live in forgiveness, freedom and receive the gift of eternal life.
This is a FREE gift that is offered and given to us. A gift that we could never earn or deserve on our own. And, because of God’s unconditional love for us, He has freely given you and me this BEAUTIFUL gift of freedom.
This is the mindset we can live in every day: I AM FREE! However, we see that Paul warns the Christians in the next part of Galatians 5:1: “Therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed].”
It’s clear that even as followers of Jesus we need to stand firm each and every day in freedom and be aware of the yoke of slavery so that we do not become subject to it.
Have you ever seen a wooden yoke on a team of oxen? It controls where they go and what they do. Maybe you’ve seen this in a movie or on a farm somewhere in Lancaster, PA. This is a picture of what the yoke of slavery looks like in the physical world so we can understand what it looks like in the spiritual one.
Jesus tore the veil and freed us from the requirements of the Mosaic Law. This means that we can do what pleases God out of thankfulness and love for the salvation that He gave to each and every one of us.
It’s not about what we can do, it's all about what He has done.
We must stand firm with faith in this FREEDOM. We are free because of Jesus!
If you ever did win a FREE day to do anything you wanted to do, that would be pretty amazing. Right? But the truth is, that kind of freedom would eventually end. It is temporary.
The freedom that we have in Jesus is an eternal, everlasting gift. As we live in this world, we will have to continue to stand firm in this freedom with the hope that we have. One day, we will all be together - free and whole - in eternity with Jesus.
That is something to look forward to, don’t you think? Until that day, we get to live in the freedom that was purchased for us on the cross by Jesus the Son of God on this side of heaven. We are called to freedom; to love, serve and seek the best for one another.
We are called to freedom, as we read in Galatians in verse 13.
“For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through love serve and seek the best for one another.”
Freedom does not mean we get to do what we want, when we want to. Freedom is a position that we have only because of Jesus. This freedom is to love, serve, seek the best for others, not bound by selfish desires, but compelled by love.
“For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is fulfilled in one precept, you shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit].” – verse 15
This freedom is ours when we declare Jesus Christ is Lord, not just for us, but for others as well. The freedom that we get to live in each day can inspire others to want to know more about Jesus and the freedom that He can freely give to them.
Freedom, by definition, is the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. We are no longer slaves to sin, but free in Christ. That is something to rejoice and be glad about! Go ahead and do a little freedom dance! Throw those hands in the air!
You. Yes, you!
The world needs to see what freedom in Jesus looks like. Let’s show the world.
We are called to freedom. Celebrate that today!
Bethany Marshall
