God’s Promises To You: A 4-Day Reading Planናሙና

I Will Free You

Why does God make us wait?

Have you ever asked that question? God is all-powerful, so why doesn’t He fix our circumstances and remove our pain the moment we are saved? The Bible answers those questions in a few places. For example, Peter tells us God is gracious and kind, wanting as many people as possible to come to know Him. 

But there’s also work God wants to do in us while we’re waiting. When we ask Jesus into our lives, our spirit is made perfect. But our body and soul — what we do, and what we think and feel — are still far from perfect. 

We come into God’s family full of sin, full of hurt, and full of baggage. So from the moment we are saved to the day Jesus returns, God teaches us the values of this new family we’ve been adopted into. He doesn’t do this by giving a list of rules to follow, but by giving us the Holy Spirit as a guide. 

As we listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His lead, new desires displace our old ones. Freeing us from our old way of doing things is a lifelong process that requires our participation.  

We have to be willing to admit we have issues. We also have to let ourselves think differently. We might even have to change our influences — surrounding ourselves with different people, programs, or pastimes. 

But as crazy as it might sound, true freedom comes from submission. We spent our lives before Jesus chasing what feels good and doing what we thought was right. And in the end, we were never fulfilled. 

Each time we follow the Holy Spirit, we become a little more like Jesus and a little less like who we used to be. Confidence that we are God’s children replaces the knowledge that we are God’s children. And that’s where the real adventure begins. 

Pray 

God, thank you for dying to save me and sending the Holy Spirit to guide me. Free me from my old way of thinking and any baggage I’m still carrying around. Show me where I need to think differently and follow your lead. 

Challenge 

Do you feel free or is your life ruled by rules? What’s one thing you’ve been doing that God never said you needed to do? Quit it. Today. Then, ask Jesus how you should spend that time instead.