Thursday, May 18, 2017

We Want Freedom

Humans are always declaring their freedom, wishing for more "space," announcing that they belong only to "themselves." We want to be free from the enslavement of the kitchen, or from confinement of a job we don't like.

Airplane companies claim to set us free, and medical companies says the same. There are deodorant companies which promise to set us free from the worry of underarm wetness and odor; a certain toothpaste declares we can be set free from dull teeth. Then we are promised freedom from pain by Tylenol, Excedrin, Bayer, and others. Other products play on our desperation for freedom by telling us we can be free from "ring-around-the-collar," and Lysol sets us free from germs. We want freedom to sleep at night with a clear conscience, freedom from fear of death, and above all, freedom from the terrors of the judgment day.

A teen-age boy told his parents he was going to run away from home. "Listen," he said, "I'm leaving home. There is nothing you can do to stop me. I want excitement, adventure, beautiful women, money, and fun. I'll never find it here, so I'm leaving. Just don't try to stop me!" As he headed for the door, his father leaped up and ran toward him.

"Dad," the boy said firmly, "you heard what I said. Don't try to stop me. I'm going!" "Who's trying to stop you?" answered the father, "I'm going with you!"

Romans 5:3-4

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

What are you living to produce in your life? Wealth, fame, status, significance, a legacy? How about character! Isn't having the character of God our real goal in life? So even in our worst of times, if we can be people of character, then nothing can steal from us our most desired goal, the character of God, given us in Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Quote

"We cannot bear sin - when it is near us, we feel like a wretch chained to a rotting carcass; we groan to be free of the hateful thing." - Charles H. Spurgeon

Quotes 

. Having a sense of nearness to God gives me the sense of being exactly where I belong. - Christine Dallman

. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.  Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, and grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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