About Freedom -- An Easter Meditation

“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

 

Galatians is truly a wonderful book.  It is about freedom.  “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”  This is such good news we can hardly believe it.  In fact, most of the time people don’t believe it.  If, when they hear this good news and come to Christ they feel a rush of happiness at this freedom, they soon replace it with some level of bondage again. 

Even though we long for freedom with our whole being, we human beings find it hard to STAY free!  Why is that? 

For some, it’s because we don’t think we deserve it.  DUH!!  Isn’t that the whole point of the gospel!  We didn’t deserve it and God loved us and sent his Son who paid the price of our undeserving selves.  Last night I heard a story that comes from Leviticus.  The Israelites were told to bring in two pigeons as offerings.  The one was killed and they put its blood on the other one and set it free.  Bingo!  Jesus and I come before God – Jesus was killed and by my acceptance of that God puts his blood “on” me – I fly free.

Good news!

There are other psychological reasons that we don’t STAY free.  One is pride.  Accepting God’s offer of a free exchange doesn’t leave me any room to brag.  I am standing there psychologically naked before God.  That is uncomfortable – since the time of Adam who went and found some old leaves to cover up his nakedness!  I feel I must get rid of my sense of uncomfortableness by doing something – even leaves will do.  But that is a slippery slope.  First leaves, then skins.  Then Eve looks at the two of them and says, “We can do better than this.  These skins have no style!”  And she creates a whole industry based on looking good.

Voila! --

Looking good to each other and to ourselves begins to take over and cover up the reality that, yes, we are naked before God but we don’t have to be ashamed anymore because God himself has covered us, through Christ, and we are really, truly, forever, freely OK.

When will we ever learn!   

These intrusions on our freedom are so sneaky.  There is the religious cover-up, also.  We accept Christ and are happy.  We come to church to be with other people who know Christ (because our old friends don't understand us anymore), but after a while we notice these people aren’t all happy.  They have problems, and we still have problems, and someone says, “Come over here – I have found a fix for this problem.”  And someone else says, Going to church often will help the problems.  And then it’s, “Serving the poor will help us feel better and fix the problems.”  Or “Serving the poor in Africa will really put us in good stead and make us happy.”

And, voila! --

Next thing you know we are dragged down the same path of thinking – that our own actions will get us right with God and people.

Help!

Although there are many paths to losing our freedom in Christ,  

there is always the same simple way out. 

Come to the cross. 

Kneel there. 

Confess that you can’t do it. 

Receive God’s forgiveness and ask for his help. 

Open your heart to His Spirit doing it through you.

Get up and go with God.

Breathe.

Isn’t freedom wonderful.

A Lack of Persistency -- Thoughts on Prayer

          Here, is a great secret of failure.  Concerning this the Scriptures are plain enough.

          It may be difficult to satisfy all minds why one needs to keep asking, or ask long – but the fact is it is so.  Jesus lacked no desire of faith, but He prayed for hours at a time, and for one thing; and again all night.

          And He teaches importunity.  “And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?”  In the explanation of the prayer He gives His people to offer, he urges the necessity of importunity – “because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.”

          Where prayer involves but two wills it should be a simple thing.  The two wills are God’s and one’s own.  If God has promised a matter, one should be able to apprehend and get it with comparative ease.  If God wills it and the suppliant will it, then the way to the end should be relatively short.

Take for instance the question of salvation – the salvation of pardon, or of purity.  This is the will of God.  Over this there should be no struggle and no waiting or postponement.  It requires no importunity.  There may be all this, but it is not necessary.  God is ready as well as willing and His time is now.  All waiting, or struggle, or even persistency are due to some failure on the human side to come to terms.  God’s face is toward the repentant sinner, to pardon, or toward the trusting believer to purify, and no delay at all is required or even, on God’s part, allowed – now is the accepted time.

Take farther the matter of special grace, or divine leading, or the supply of wisdom, or a hundred other demands that are with us so often and so needful.  When God has so plainly indicated His will in these particular matters, the getting them should be simple because no wills are involved outside these I am mentioning.

--Rev. Charles Fowler, 1912