Freedom!

Freedom.  What do you think of when you hear that word?  Freedom.

That word has been rattling around in my brain for a few days.  Freedom is powerful!  Governments fight wars over it.  People cross borders in search of it.  Prisoners look thru bars and dream about it.

People long to be free!  They want physical freedom, or political freedom, or religious freedom, or freedom from pain, or freedom from hunger, or freedom from financial struggles…the list could go on and on.  We all long for freedom of some sort.  But…you knew that was coming huh…a big ol’ but…What are we willing to do for that freedom?  Are we willing to give up everything we have for it?  Are we willing to fight for it?  Are we willing to lay down our life for it? 

When I was thinking about freedom I was reminded of my trip to India, several years ago.  We went to a small fishing village on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Upon arrival there we were taken to their church.  It wasn’t a church like we think of a church with beautiful wood floors and pews and stained glass windows.  In fact, this church didn’t have any windows at all.  It was a one room, cinder block building with no furniture and no windows or doors.  While we stood looking at this church we were told how just a month prior to our visit this very building was going to be torn down.

Over 80% of the population of India is Hindu and just about 2% is Christian.  The other 18% is a mixture of Islam, Buddhism and other religions.  This particular church was Christian.  The “government” of the area had decided that church needed to come down and they sent people and equipment to do just that. The Christian believers of the village surrounded the church and would not let it be torn down.  They put their lives on the line to save that church.  This cinder block building that was nothing special to look at meant something to them.  Something very important and they were not going to let anyone take that away from them.  They put their lives on the line to have the freedom to choose how to worship and to whom they worshipped.

Would I do that or would you do that to protect your church?  Now I know that God does not reside in a building and that we can have church any where two or more believers gather.  But our places of worship are vital and should be treated with respect and honor.  (That goes the same for those of us who are in them every week and those of the world who might want to destroy them). The confrontation in India was rooted in the desire for freedom. They stood their ground and God protected them and their church was not torn down.

 Freedom is defined as:  the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.

We long for freedom but do we long for the One who can set us free?  Do we trust that He will do what He says He will do?  Are we willing to do whatever it takes to be set free by Him?  God came to set us free!  Free from addiction, from sin, from worry, from insecurities, from fear and again, the list could go on and on.  If only we would trust Him.

In Exodus 3:7-8 The Lord said "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.  I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.  So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey - the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites."

God sends Moses to the Israelites with this promise for them.  They are slaves being held captive and they are given a promise from God that they will be set free and they didn't believe it.  They were so stuck in their misery that they didn't see the freedom that was being handed to them.  We can be so like that!  God is standing there, with open arms saying come here...let me set you free and we look at Him and turn away or stand still and don't run and jump into His arms.

God came down to earth as a man to set us free.  He was crucified to set us free.  He was buried to set us free and He rose on the third day, all to set us free.  Why are we like the Israelites?  Why would we choose to stay captive to our addiction or fear or worry or insecurity rather than trust the Creator of the Universe.  The very one who made us in His image.  Why would we rather stay captive to the things of this earth than set our eyes on eternity with Him.

And then, when He does set us free, why do we go back to our old ways?  Just like the Israelites did.  Why do we taste freedom and then throw it all away for our old life and our old ways?  God came to set us free! 

Listen to this song with the word freedom in mind...

Choose freedom!  Choose to live His promises for you!  Choose to take the gift of freedom that He is offering and don't look back!