Reason #641
Here's the thing, freedom has always been the plan. Freedom was the whole idea of it from the start. He breathed life into their bodies, Adam and Eve. Giving them freedom to walk through garden, to experience God in all of His fullness. Needing nothing because they had everything. No shame, no regret, no guilt or mistakes. Walking in perfect freedom surrounded by God's glory. He gave them freedom. And because they were free, because they had the choice, because God never makes us do one thing or another, they chose to eat that fruit out of that freedom and become slaves to sin.
Freedom. They cried out for it. Slaves in Egypt. God's people were desperate for rescue. Bound, indebted, owned. He heard their cry, and He lead them out of slavery into freedom. No longer bound to anything or anyone. Completely free to experience God's glory as He dwelt among them. Free to walk with Him as He lead them to the promised land.
“If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell himself to you, do not treat him as a slave. Treat him instead as a hired worker or as a temporary resident who lives with you, and he will serve you only until the Year of Jubilee. At that time he and his children will no longer be obligated to you, and they will return to their clans and go back to the land originally allotted to their ancestors. The people of Israel are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, so they must never be sold as slaves...If any Israelites have not been bought back by the time the Year of Jubilee arrives, they and their children must be set free at that time. For the people of Israel belong to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." - Leviticus 25:39-43 & 54:55
Even then, choosing to sell themselves in to slavery, He had a plan for their freedom. For they were only to be slaves temporarily, not forever. After a certain period of time, they would be set free. Free, as He intended His children to be. Free, because they belonged to Him. They were His, and His alone.
Freedom has been the plan all along.
And so the years passed, thousands of years to be exact, and His children were so enslaved by sin. Trapped, bound, and in desperate need of saving. And so He sent His son to dwell among them, to die a criminals death, so that these slaves, these sinners, could be free forever. Free from sin, from bondage, from slavery. Because our God is not into sharing His beloved with anyone or anything.
Freedom is not a new concept. It's not a new idea that came about when Jesus entered into this world. But we kept enslaving ourselves to sin. Binding ourselves to this world. Getting trapped in messes that we couldn't get ourselves out of. Desperate. Stuck. Dying. And so He came to set us free once and for all.
I watched a video tonight about freedom. My eyes filled with tears and chills covered my whole body as I heard the testimony of a woman who has been set free. Because just like you and me, she is His creation. One who was intended to walk in freedom from the beginning. But the truth is, sometimes we have to walk down all the other roads to find the road to freedom. Yet if we continue to pursue Jesus, to search and look for Him, He will lead us to that very road.
You were meant to be free. You are His, bought at a high price. And all He has ever wanted is for you to walk in freedom. To break the chains that bind, to sever the yoke of slavery, and to follow Him down the path that leads to abundant and eternal life.
And the joy of freedom, of an abundant and fulfilling life in Christ, is that you can chose it at any time. It's yours for the taking. And when you're ready to be free, He is ready to set you free. No chains are too strong to hold you, no bind to tight to keep you from Him. Set free to live free because that's been His plan all along.
#641 - Because the plan has always been for freedom.
"So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. " - Galatians 5:1
Freedom. They cried out for it. Slaves in Egypt. God's people were desperate for rescue. Bound, indebted, owned. He heard their cry, and He lead them out of slavery into freedom. No longer bound to anything or anyone. Completely free to experience God's glory as He dwelt among them. Free to walk with Him as He lead them to the promised land.
“If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell himself to you, do not treat him as a slave. Treat him instead as a hired worker or as a temporary resident who lives with you, and he will serve you only until the Year of Jubilee. At that time he and his children will no longer be obligated to you, and they will return to their clans and go back to the land originally allotted to their ancestors. The people of Israel are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, so they must never be sold as slaves...If any Israelites have not been bought back by the time the Year of Jubilee arrives, they and their children must be set free at that time. For the people of Israel belong to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." - Leviticus 25:39-43 & 54:55
Even then, choosing to sell themselves in to slavery, He had a plan for their freedom. For they were only to be slaves temporarily, not forever. After a certain period of time, they would be set free. Free, as He intended His children to be. Free, because they belonged to Him. They were His, and His alone.
Freedom has been the plan all along.
And so the years passed, thousands of years to be exact, and His children were so enslaved by sin. Trapped, bound, and in desperate need of saving. And so He sent His son to dwell among them, to die a criminals death, so that these slaves, these sinners, could be free forever. Free from sin, from bondage, from slavery. Because our God is not into sharing His beloved with anyone or anything.
Freedom is not a new concept. It's not a new idea that came about when Jesus entered into this world. But we kept enslaving ourselves to sin. Binding ourselves to this world. Getting trapped in messes that we couldn't get ourselves out of. Desperate. Stuck. Dying. And so He came to set us free once and for all.
I watched a video tonight about freedom. My eyes filled with tears and chills covered my whole body as I heard the testimony of a woman who has been set free. Because just like you and me, she is His creation. One who was intended to walk in freedom from the beginning. But the truth is, sometimes we have to walk down all the other roads to find the road to freedom. Yet if we continue to pursue Jesus, to search and look for Him, He will lead us to that very road.
You were meant to be free. You are His, bought at a high price. And all He has ever wanted is for you to walk in freedom. To break the chains that bind, to sever the yoke of slavery, and to follow Him down the path that leads to abundant and eternal life.
And the joy of freedom, of an abundant and fulfilling life in Christ, is that you can chose it at any time. It's yours for the taking. And when you're ready to be free, He is ready to set you free. No chains are too strong to hold you, no bind to tight to keep you from Him. Set free to live free because that's been His plan all along.
#641 - Because the plan has always been for freedom.
"So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. " - Galatians 5:1