Dancing in Freedom of Grace by Pete BriscoeSample

It’s Called “Grace”

Run, John, run, the law commands but gives me neither feet nor hands. Tis better news the Gospel brings. It bids me fly, it gives me wings. —John Bunyan

Learning to dance seems so unnatural at first. The evening I first stepped onto a honky-tonk dance floor in Fort Worth, I was so self-conscious. Why? Because I was concerned about how everyone viewed me. Why? Because I was always focused on marching—my performance, effort, and behavior.

Learning to dance is scary stuff, and some never try—not in a honky-tonk and not with Jesus. Why? Because I’m convinced that most of us are afraid to step into the freedom that Christ offers. Why? Because we’ve got this huge misunderstanding about how God views us, and that turns most of us into monotonous marchers.

But if marching is sheer monotony, then dancing is pure freedom.

• Freedom to live
• Freedom to enjoy
• Freedom to obey
• Freedom to share
• Freedom to fail
• Freedom to start all over again
• Freedom to move with the music of the Spirit

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

If marching is all about my work for Him, then dancing is all about the finished work of Christ for you and for me. The believers in Galatia started out dancing—and then some false teachers came in and got everyone wrapped up in themselves.

When I ask you to dance, I’m not inviting you to be a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. It’s not you in the spotlight with everyone judging you and people texting their evaluations from all over the country.

I’m inviting you to step into His grace, to step into the truth of who you already are in Him. Why? Because our whole world is wired to judge you by your performance, and it’s natural for us to feel like God works that way, too. But He doesn’t. He’s got a completely different system. It’s called grace. And we can believe in it, rest in it, and dance in it like no one’s watching.

Oh Jesus, by the Truth of Your Word and the power of Your Spirit, live through me today. I stand firm against the voices and powers that want to deceive my soul. I exchange fear for freedom! Amen.