Maintaining our freedom (2)

Each time I start a new series on this blog it is exciting to see whether a subject has the reader's interest. Curious as I am, I checked the blog statistics after my previous post and I am thankful to see that many are reading with us.

We will take a closer look at freedom as the Bible mentions it. What kind of freedom is that and, to make it practical, how do we maintain that freedom in our daily lives? The basic scripture I am using for this series can be found in Galatians 5:1, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

It is very clear from this scripture that it is Jesus Christ who offers us freedom. Not our relationships, not money, vacation, therapy or medication. Nothing or no one can give it like Jesus does. It doesn't really matter which subject is being discussed, everything starts and ends with Him. Everything starts with putting Jesus in the center of our lives, our thinking and acting. Therefore it will be useful to start this series with a proclamation, a statement, of who He is. Feel free to read aloud the following:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:15-20).

Jesus is not just someone we talk about or read and sing about. He is the Son of the living God and He wants to live in us with his Holy Spirit. In that way making our body his temple, his home... a place where He loves to live. Now, no one in his or her right mind wants to live in a prison, not us, not the Holy Spirit! That is why Jesus offers us freedom, real freedom, and He wants us to keep living in that freedom. The reality is, that maintaining our freedom does not come automatically. Often we find ourselves (sometimes without realizing it) again enslaved by sin, sickness and/or worries... Maintaining and enjoying our freedom starts with understanding what that freedom is all about.

If you sincerely want to think about this subject it might help to write down, for yourself, what real freedom means to you.

In the next post I will write some more about worldly freedom versus biblical freedom.