Would it surprise you to hear me say that none of the above makes you free? If you have everything the world can offer – what does it offer in the end? Do you have that peace? A peace so calm that no storm can deafen it. A peace of security that you have something within you that is bigger than any conceivable thing. A peace that no matter what prevails against you, in the end it really doesn’t matter – the battle has been fought. The war has been won and you are a participant in the great victory feast. Do you have the peace of knowing that all the blackened stains that mar your life hold no substance on you anymore and you are a beaming light on a hill – a lighthouse in this dark storm of sin.
Freedom is being free of burdens that hold you down, oppresses you, stifle you and crush your soul. A life without hope is a burden. A life full of sin is a burden. A life of worry is a burden. A life with no one to turn to, to scream and vent all of life’s anguishes is a burden.
Freedom is knowing Christ.
Christ held up the burdens of the world on the cross at Calvary. With arms outstretch and with the strength of God. Place your burdens there. Know with all your heart that the rest that he offers is the true peace that you seek. When you know with all your heart soul and mind that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life then you can be assured of a hope in his promise. The promise shown through his resurrection, that there is life waiting for us in the presence of the Father in one of his many rooms where all tears will be wiped away. With that truest of knowledge, know that all burdens, hardships, pain and suffering that you bear through your days will be as of praise to the one that gives us ultimate peace and joy and love.“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Imagine all of that. Imagine being free from Condemation no matter where you live or what you have done in the past. Imagine being forgiven of all your sins while you sit in a prison cell. Imagine knowing you cannot be separated from the love of God no matter who you are or what you have done or will do. Imagine being protected from evil by the creator of the universe. Imagine having his personal stamp of approval on your head. What peace of mind can that bring. Knowing this with absolute certainty can give you freedom in the purest sense of the word because whatever situation you are in, be it suffering, be it joy, be in pain, be it hardship, be in the best of health or suffering the worst of diseases, be living in a house in a developed country or sleeping on the streets in the slums of Calcutta – if you are in Christ then God has got you and he won’t let go. You are free. Free to enjoy the relationship with the greatest being ever existed and free to spend eternity in his presence in one of the many rooms he has prepared. And finally to misquote William Wallace –
In Christ we hope and Pray.And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell the enemy that he may take our lives, but he will never take our freedom in Christ!!
