By David ReayFriday 21 Mar 2014LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Romans 6:20-23
20 When you were slaves to sin,you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do,things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death,but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (NLT)
Many years ago in the suburb where I grew up,there was a disused quarry filled with water. A young boy fell in and drowned after playing near the edge of it. The authorities built a fence around it. This was a restriction of the freedom of children to play where they pleased. But it was a worthwhile restriction as it gave them an even greater freedom: to grow up without fear of drowning.
Human freedom is not the freedom to do as we like. That is captivity to self,or as Paul describes it,slavery to sin. Human beings have always confused independence and freedom. Adam and Eve made a declaration of independence in the Garden of Eden when they decided they knew better than God how to live life. It didn’t lead to freedom for them or for us.
True freedom is the freedom to be the people God has made us to be. To seek to be free without being captive to God is to fall for the poor substitute of independence. People without God are free in much the same way a ship is free without compass or rudder. Free to drift,to even shipwreck. Not free to reach the desired safe harbour.
Blessings
David Reay