Freedom

Daily Reading: Galatians 5-6

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5.1)

Devotional Thought: Many years ago, when my girls were young, we vacationed on the Outer Banks.  As we traversed the islands from ferry to ferry, we stopped and investigated the beaches and lighthouses.  At one point I decided it would be a good idea to drive down to the beach – in our minivan!  We didn’t get far before we were bogged down in the loose sand.  I thought I was free to go anywhere I wanted, but I discovered that freedom had limits.  I needed to stay on the road.  As long as I did that, I could move about freely.  When I ventured away from the road, I got stuck.  I’m so glad that there were some friendly college kids on the beach who pushed us out.  The cost of a tow truck out there would have been more than a mortgage payment!

Many Galatians had succumbed to a yoke of slavery.  Paul said basically, “Enough of that!  Christ has set you free so that you can be free!”  What was Paul talking about here?  Was he teaching that "anything goes?"  Absolutely not!  An open-minded reading of Paul’s letters definitely reveals his insistence on moral and holy living.  Christians are bound by a new Lord - the Lord Jesus Christ - and a new law - the Law of Love.

You and I were made to walk with God.  When we do that, we experience freedom!  We freely explore our wide world and express our unique selves within our created purpose.  Don’t be yoked by legalism.  Instead, live in the freedom and joy of Jesus today!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have set me free from the law with its written code and have given me a new law, the Law of Love.  Help me to walk in that law and to live in the freedom of Christ.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 102:18-28

18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:

19 “The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth,

20 to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.”

21 So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem

22 when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD.

23 In the course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days.

24 So I said: “Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations.

25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.

27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

28 The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.”