As we enter July 4th weekend here in the U.S. anyway it's appropriate to spend a little time thinking about freedom. Freedom has many meanings and connotations and there are indeed many different types of freedom. Today I'm not thinking so much about freedom in the political or nationalistic sense but more personal freedom.
Galatians 5:13 says "You, my brothers and sisters were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Rather, serve one another humbly in love." Humility and service then, are the greatest expressions of freedom.
In 2 Corinthians 3:17 Paul writes "Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." This means we can be free regardless of the circumstances of our lives.
Freedom then is a way of life, not a status of being. And there are moments that we experience freedom and then hopefully walk in that freedom.
When I was 16 I went through a period I'm sure was at least slight depression. A member of my youth group had been killed in a car accident and I spent a couple months asking God how he could and why he would do that. In May of that year I attended a Bible study with some friends and discovered there what I didn't see (not that it wasn't present - I just didn't see it) at my church - people excited about and enjoying their relationship with God. I saw joy and peace and knew I didn't have it. After attending a few times I went home one night and told God I wanted whatever it was they had. It was my Independence Day. The day I was set free from sin by entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
In college a few years later I had another Independence Day when God revealed to me that I was allowing some things from my past to control me and I was justifying my behavior by claiming "victim" status. God showed me that while I can't control what happened to me, I can control how I respond to those situations and what I do with them from there. Again, God's Spirit stepped in and set me free. "For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
I've had several of those Independence Days along the way - the most notable or most recent last December when I decided it was indeed time to embark on this Run 2 Freedom - this journey towards health and wholeness. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom." The Spirit of the Lord is here and I am free. I was set free from the bondage of using food as a crutch and emotional resource. Food itself was not my bondage - it was how I used it and the role it played in my life.
I was set free back in December when the plan was made for this journey. I was set free knowing I was going on this journey and the result would be health and wholeness and even a new spiritual awakening. My Independence day came all the way back before I stepped on the scales because the decision had already been made. I'm not totally free of all the issues that come with being obese. I would still be classified as obese on all the charts I'm sure. I can, however, claim my freedom and walk in it and it makes the journey so much easier because it's already done. The victory is won and I simply have to remember that and tell my enemies and tempters that the game is already over and they have already lost.
One of my college profs told me of a time he was in a bus station late one night (2-3am) because of some delays and he was trying to sleep a little when two somewhat seedy looking characters walked up to him and said, "Hey Mister. Hey Mister - are you saved?" My prof nodded yes and thought they'd go back to sleep but they persisted. "Are you saved? When were you saved? You have to know when you were saved!" He sat up enough to get a better look at them and responded, "Yes I'm saved. I was saved almost 2000 years ago." The two characters' eyes got really big, their jaws dropped, they looked at each other and then walked quickly away. The truth here is that our freedom was bought and paid for at Calvary. At the time of Christ's sacrifice for the sin of all people, we were given freedom - we only need to accept it.
And then, as freed people, no longer under the burden of slavery or bondage, whether to people, food, drugs, alcohol, pornography, violence, shame, guilt, etc, we should live as servants, not for our own glory but for God's who gave us freedom. It's not about us. It's His story, being written on the hearts of people around the world so that all may know and so all may be free.
As we celebrate Independence Day let us remember we were called to be free and to use our freedom to humbly serve others.
Less of me. More of Him.
Eric
This blog is set up to chronicle a journey to health and freedom. While I will be reporting on my physical health I believe that as a result of this journey I will also have a spiritual awakening and become more like Christ. Upon arrival I believe I will truly be able to say, "less of me and more of Him."
