Freedom is
a costly thing.
Men and
women across this entire world have bled and breathed their last for people
like me to experience freedom. Children have lost their parents so other children
can be taught how to ride their bike as their dad holds on tight then lets go
of the handle bars for the first time.
We live for
freedom, and we die for it.
Freedom
means something more. We hope that this freedom from oppression will bring us
satisfaction and rest and everything else we have hoped for.
But how
many people who have this earthly freedom actually find satisfaction and rest.
How many are actually free?
Our
paychecks and lifestyles bind us. Our bills pin us down to a job. Other people
tell us we have to be this or we have to be that in order to be accepted: we’re
too fat or too skinny, too outspoken or too quiet. No matter what we do, it
seems we can’t win; we can’t be free from this world and worry.
Or can we?
About two
thousand years ago the fight for freedom looked like a sinless man being
betrayed with a kiss from one of His best friends. Freedom’s fight was this
same sinless-man standing before a screaming crowd calling for His death by the
cruelest cross. People laughed at Him and even misunderstood Him; He fought for
the ultimate freedom.
The cause
for freedom ripped into His flesh with jagged thorns and bits of metal on
leather whips. Layer of skin, after layer of skin were shredded from his body
as His lifeblood poured from His body onto a dusty street. A heavy cross was
placed upon His now frail body to be carried to His death. People spit on Him,
and He was the Son of God-God in human form.
Jesus’
chest heaved as He reached up with His nail-pierced hands to push a last bit of
air through His strained lungs. As people mocked Him for his freedom cry, Jesus
called for forgiveness for them all.
The Son of
God had done nothing to deserve death; yet, He hung on a cross so we could be
free from sin and death, and three days later, He rose from the dead and beat
the grave. We can have freedom.
2
Corinthians 3:17 says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”
(NIV). Freedom from sin, death, worry, restlessness, incompletion, sorrow,
shame, and defeat.
Through the blood of Jesus, we have
the freedom to live life to the full because no longer are we defined by our
sins and shortcomings; we are defined by Christ’s righteousness.
The greatest fight for freedom was
not won on a battle field between two opposing countries but on a cross.
Living
Life Together,
Rebecca
Thomas
