Freedom From & Freedom To
As we exhale the responsibilities of the school year and inhale the joyous chaos of summer, I am struck by this yearly ritual of celebrating “freedom from” and indulging in our “freedom to” – freedom from school and schedules and homework, freedom from the seemingly endless sports practices and volunteer commitments.
This freedom from our normal lives leaves a vacuum of opportunity and provides us freedom to. We soak in the sun by a pool on a warm summer day, we savor juicy watermelons, and we finally get to go on that vacation we have been planning all year. There are church camps, mission trips, and vacation Bible schools. We are free to do what we want with our time, unconstrained by our normal schedules.
This stark contrast we find in our rhythm of life is a familiar example of the concept of “freedom from” and “freedom to.” We find a similar theme in scripture. Christ sets us free from our old lives of sin. He breaks chains and strongholds and liberates us from the sin we are so entangled in. Christ sets us free from those burdens, from guilt and shame. But what will we do with that freedom?
So often we find ourselves not relishing in our new found freedom, but instead letting our old patterns sneak back into our lives – not soaking in our new identity but riding the line of how much we can keep from our days of slavery and still get away with. The freedom Christ died to give us is to be celebrated and fully transformative. You are no longer a slave, you are a new creation, and you are free. Exhale bondage, fear, shame, guilt. Inhale worthiness, being truly known and fully loved.
Take some time today to identify what you feel set free from and how you want your freedom to play out in our life and service to God?
Galatians 4:7 ESV
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
John 8:34-36 ESV
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Colossians 1:13-14 ESV
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
