Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Freedom...
With Veterans Day just past, this poem came to mind.  Freedom is probably one of my favorite words in the English language because it carries such depth of meaning.  My heart felt gratitude is stirred every time I see one of our countries finest in uniform.  I always try to make it a point to let them know that I appreciate their service.  But real freedom goes so much deeper than that.  Real freedom is something that only Christ can make available to us.  Unfortunately there are so many Christians that never learn to experience this freedom to its fullest, because of the choices they make.  I can't imagine anything more precious or valuable.  More than my gratitude for our service men and women, I am so grateful for my freedom from the penalty of sin.  I am grateful that I can have the freedom from the power of sin, as I yield daily to the Holy Spirit.  And I am most grateful that one day I will have freedom from the very presence of sin!  I can't think of anything we are more in need of than real, true, lasting....

Freedom
If I be lifted up
I will draw all men to me
Jesus speaking of his death
The truth that sets us free
Real freedom is in Christ
Free to love and to serve
Free to be different
If you’ve got the nerve
Free to escape
The bondage of sin
Free to have victory
Over the old man within
Free to avoid
The scars and the shame
Freedom to call
On the power in His name
“Give me freedom or give me death”
One man once bravely said
We make the choice between the two
By the path we choose to tread

John 12:32  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
I Cor. 6:12  All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

When I was young, I wanted “freedom” more than I wanted just about any other thing.  Freedom to “do my own thing”, to make my own rules.  I thought, as I’m sure many do (especially in the teenage years), that having that sort of freedom was the key to happiness.  But the older I get and the more I grow in grace, the more I understand that real freedom, that produces genuine happiness and joy, is in yielding “my own thing” in order to do “His thing”.  There is a freedom in the will of God that cannot be understood or experienced any other way.