Freedom is Tricky

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32 NLT

If you read my last blog you will remember that we defined freedom as the “ability to choose.” Then we concluded that if I am in bondage to anything it is because I made the choice at some point to allow that “thing” to have control. Today I want to talk with you about how tricky freedom is. You see, freedom always comes with a price. Our spiritual freedom has been paid for by Christ; that transaction was completed at his death and resurrection. Our country’s freedom has been paid for by someone else. (Don’t ever forget that.) But the price of my personal freedom is paid by me each and every day. The verse we started with this morning reminds us that the only way to be free is to “know the truth.” That sounds so easy ! But it is rather difficult. To know the truth means I must know where truth comes from. The words “you will know the truth” are the words of Jesus, and they are part of a larger thought. Jesus had just told his disciples that if they “remained faithful to His teaching”(vs 31) they would “know the truth.” If we are willing to follow the teachings of Jesus and yield our will to his, we will experience freedom and rest we have only dreamed about. When you stop and think it through, it only makes sense that the one who created you would know how to give you freedom. The world, one the other hand, feeds us all kinds of stories about what freedom looks like and where it can be found. The problem with all of those ideas is they lead us to being controlled by someone or something else; that’s bondage and enslavement.
If you want true freedom, you need to choose to follow Jesus Christ. Make that choice today.

-Pastor Tim