FreedomNäide

The closer to Christ, the greater the freedom

My high school years were the predictable mix of triumph and tumult. What, at the time, felt like life-or-death decisions have now become imprecise shadows and vague impressions. The glories of trigonometry are a prime example. I do remember art class as particularly terrifying, however. Vivid memories remain of the teacher presenting us with a small blank canvas and gleefully exhorting us to ‘free paint’ as if this were a gift of immense value to us. It was not. ‘What? Free paint? Anything?’ I was aghast. ‘That’s not freedom – that’s a trap!’ To me a blank canvas was not freedom, but an infinite number of ways to fail. How will I even know when the painting is done or complete, or whatever actual artists call finished?

How often does our perpetual search for freedom end with the realisation that we are in fact crying out for structure and boundaries? Or worse, our illusory search for freedom ends in a new bondage? Addictions, unhealthy relationships, financial distress, or the relentless pursuit of worldly success at great personal cost?

The Bible teaches us that true freedom is not the absence of all constraints, but the tight embrace of a profound relationship with God. Galatians 5:1 reminds us that Christ has set us free, calling us to stand firm and resist returning to the yoke of slavery.

When we surrender to His will and embrace His leading, we experience a liberation that transcends the temporal and touches the eternal.

Written by DWAYNE JEFFRIES