Being free

On July 4th every year Americans gather together all over the US to celebrate Independence Day. A day when we acknowledge our split with Britain by blowing stuff up and partying. We choose to lay aside our disagreements and forget our nation’s imperfections for the sake of a concept: freedom.

We recognize that the value of our freedom supersedes everything else our nation has to offer. The burden of a tyrannical government is an evil that we don't have to bear because long ago blood was spilled to throw them off our backs. American's know that freedom is worth fighting and dying for and that our liberty is the most important thing we have.

There is another kind of freedom that is also worth dying for. So valuable was this freedom that God sent His own perfect Son to die for it. This is a freedom that we often don't recognize. A liberty from enslavement that we tend to forget, or even, reject. The burden of sin is an evil that we don't have to bear because long ago blood was spilled that removed it from us and laid it on the shoulders of a King. Yet, so often, we trudge through life under the tyrannical rule of our sin.

 We have the ultimate freedom, a freedom that was bought with the ultimate sacrifice.

The Bible tells us that, "Rain falls on the just and the unjust" and we know that everyone goes through hard times. And yet Jesus says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I used to wonder how that was possible. The apostle Paul definitely didn't seem to have an easy burden and I read stories of other missionaries who also suffered and died for the sake of the Gospel. If Christians went through so much for their faith, how could it be that His yoke is easy? What kind of freedom was that?

The burden of your sin and it's consequences is greater than anything Christ asks us to bear. Life is going to be hard, and if you accept Christ as your Savior it may get even harder. But because of the freedom we have from sin and the destruction that it leads to, our burden will be light. Not only that, He supplies us with the strength we need to continue in Him. When we take Christ’s burden upon us, He begins leading us away from the destructive path of sin and toward deepened peace and unexplainable joy. His power is made perfect in our weakness and it is in Him that we can find the courage to continue. 

We have the freedom to be completely honest about who we are and the mistakes we make because we know that He has forgiven us and calls us His. We have the freedom to know that we are loved no matter what, because Jesus Christ died for us. We have the freedom to beg forgiveness and nail our sins to the cross, because if we confess our sins and repent we are guaranteed forgiveness. We have the freedom to rejoice always because we know that He gives us the strength to do all things. We have the freedom to experience peace in the middle of great trials because our God is the God of peace and promises to never leave us or forsake us. We have the freedom to persevere, love in spite of pain, encourage others, and hope when life seems hopeless because we know that one day every tear will be wiped away. 

Without that freedom, nothing matters. With it, nothing else has to.

This freedom is given to everyone who repents and believes in the sacrifice Jesus Christ.

I know what enslavement to sin feels like. I know the weight of sin, of anger, of guilt, of disobedience and how those things can pressure you until it feels like you cant breathe. And I know that there is a peace that surpasses all understanding that encompasses you the moment you let go of your sin and accept the freedom Christ offers. Throw off your chains and celebrate your freedom in Christ.