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"If the Son sets me free, I will be free indeed! What a powerful and hope-filled statement. Why is it I choose so often to not live in the freedom Jesus is talking about? Why do I choose a freedom that is less than that based on the truth Jesus wants us to live out in our lives?"
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 65.
The Bible teaches that Jesus has come to set us free. Freedom is something the soul loves to come into touch with. It is when we are subjected to long periods of missing freedom that the soul collapses in ways that make victim thinking such a powerful force in our lives.
Today's Bible reading speaks to a couple other aspects of freedom that I think we all need to have in our lives. Check it out with me now.
... and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. Acts 13:39 (NASB)
There are two points that grab my attention in today's reading. Jesus promises to set us free from ALL things. It isn't just that annoyingly bad habit that you have that He promises to free you of. It is everything that has the ability to draw you into places of darkness and despair that Christ promises to bring us freedom.
What a wildly positive promise this is. Wouldn't it be nice to be free of guilt and shame? Wouldn't it be amazing to wake up with a hope that only comes with the promise of freedom? That's exactly what is available to those who choose to let Jesus do the work needed in our lives. Sounds almost too good to be true, but I know from experience this is a real promise that has paid real dividends in my life.
Problem is I continue to step into places where I look to my actions in order to make the kinds of freedom I want happen in my life. That's where the second point in today's reading comes into play. The author of today's reading says that all the things that Christ can free us from, can not happen under the "Law of Moses." Let me explain what I think that actually means.
You see, the law to the Jewish people is such an important tool in the process they see needed to come to their God. The Law is the formula by which their walk with God is maintained and all that they are in that God is confirmed. I don't want to sound like I'm bashing this particular religion, but that kind of formula is exactly what makes it possible for victim thinking to take hold in a person's life.
It is when we let things that we are responsible for doing be what makes it possible for us to come to a knowledge of who we are that victor living becomes such a difficult prospect. The Law was never intended to be the be-all, end-all means of getting to God. I believe The Law was written as a lesson showing us that, left up to us trying to follow The Law, we are doomed at being able to consistently connect with our God. Give me a set of rules to follow and eventually I will fail at following one or more of those rules. It's just human nature to find ourselves in this predicament. Knowing that fact and choosing to continue a failed strategy with something as important as a relationship with God just isn't what God wants us to do.
That's what the author is saying about freedom in today's reading. The Law just doesn't cut it when it comes to making it possible for us to experience the kinds of freedom that is promised with Jesus. Where we will always fail at being able to keep The Law, Jesus was perfect at it. That fact makes it possible for us to gain freedom by riding on the coat tails of His work. Relying our our efforts is a doomed strategy that leads straight to victim thinking.
The reality is that God wants us to be free. Relying on rules and regulations do nothing but guarantee eventual bondage. The victor has come to a place where they realize the difference between depending on the hit-or-miss results of their own actions and the guaranteed results of the finished work of Jesus Christ. The freedom of victor living comes as we lean more and more on what God says about us and how He sees us through the lens of Jesus.
Take time today to think a lot about freedom. Do you see any areas of your life where freedom might be missing? If so, ask yourself what foundation are you coming from when you expect to see freedom reign in all you do today? If you are looking to what you do to make that freedom happen, know that any failure you see will make it harder and harder to experience the fullness of what you want for you life. You are all you need to be in God's eyes. Let that fact lead you into those places where freedom can be experienced in more of your life today.
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