True Freedom

     We've just celebrated Independence Day.  I am always grateful to remember the founding of our nation and the price that was paid to secure our freedoms.  I like the fact that, at least for a day or two, we stop arguing about what the future of our nation will (or should) be, but we focus on the reality that we live in a free country.  I'm proud to be an American, and I'm grateful to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
     As I've reflected on our freedom (which was paid for at great cost), I have remembered the true freedom that I have because of my relationship to God through Jesus.  A few thoughts come to mind from Romans 6:20-22.
     The analogy is made there between our former slavery to sin and our new-found freedom in Christ.  But it is interesting to me that Paul doesn't describe the change in our lives once we trust Christ as freedom to do and be whatever we please, but as freedom from sin so that we can be slaves to God.
     We are not good at even thinking about ourselves as slaves, let alone actually functioning as slaves.  After all, We are Americans!  No other country can tell us what to do.  We prize our freedom; our independence; our self-sufficiency.
     But all of those things go against the grain of true spirit-led Christianity.  In Christ we are free to serve the Lord and others.  In Christ we are free, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to live as we should.  Our sufficiency is found in the person of Jesus, not in our skills or abilities.  The sooner we recognize these things, the sooner we will experience true freedom:  freedom from the need to try and accomplish something in this life in order to feel as though we are worth something.  With our identity secure in Christ, we have purpose for living and hope for eternity. 
     That kind of freedom can’t be won in a war…or lost in one, either.  It is freedom of the soul that can’t be taken away because it is given by the Almighty God of the universe who becomes our Father when we receive his gift of salvation through Jesus.  After all, it was Jesus Himself who reminded the religious leaders of His day that “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36, ESV)
     So, you are a slave living in a free land.  Furthermore, your slavery makes you freer than many of the people living around you.  Let’s remember, on the occasion of this Independence Day celebration, that God has planted us in this free land so that we can work out our service for Him with much less restriction than many of our brothers and sisters around the world.  Let’s take advantage of the privileges that we have here to live our lives in service to God.

     What do you think?  Do you struggle with the concept of being freed from sin to become a slave of God?  Is the slavery of a similar nature?  Is it just an exchange of one slavery for another?

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