Watching the news one morning, the reader said, “Freedom isn’t free, it costs”, and how true that statement is.
Think of Wilberforce, Rosa Parkes, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jnr, Dorothy Height, Malala Yousafzai…and the list could go on.
Freedom is not free….it costs.
It cost everything for Jesus….a painful death on a cross, in order to secure our freedom.
Freedom from anything that might bind us up.
Freedom through the cross. A most beautiful exchange.
Freedom to live, for Him and like Him.
In these days, He continues to call us to….
1. Get free…. free from the sin that so easily enslaves. Free from anything that holds us back. Free from the thoughts that hold us. Freedom from anything that is not of Him.
2. Keep free. There was a warning for the Galatians. “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified”. Live in this big Gospel. Do not believe the lies of the evil one. Keep free.
3. Get someone else free. So many people need Jesus. The world needs Jesus. And that freedom could be salvation, it could mean that God has called you to make a stand on human trafficking, or for women who are oppressed, for children, for civil rights, for those abused. People need freedom. People need Jesus.
We do not need to be concerned about our reputation. We live like and for Jesus. And the great news is that He rose again. His Spirit is in us, with us, for us.
Freedom is not free. It costs.
Thank you, Jesus, for the price you paid. Thank you for the freedom you secured. May we live free in these days and see the salvation and transformation of your world.
– Commissioner Miriam Gluyas, Territorial Leader
The Salvation Army, Australia