Freedom in God
Psalm 119:41-46 Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word. Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your ordinances. I will keep your law continually, forever and ever. I shall walk at liberty, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your decrees before kings, and shall not be put to shame;
It pains me to tell you that for the first thirty-six years of my life, I thought that I was free. Free to live my life the way I wanted. But now, looking back on that time before I accepted Jesus into my heart, I realise that I was nothing but a captive.
The best way to describe it was that I looked successful and happy on the outside, but on the inside, I was plagued by fear and doubt. On the inside, I was a complete mess. That’s because I was a captive rather than living as a free man. That’s because the expectations of the world dominated my heart. Again, the Psalmist puts it this way:
Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word. Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your ordinances. I will keep your law continually, forever and ever. I shall walk at liberty, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your decrees before kings, and shall not be put to shame; (Psalm 119:41-46)
I really get that bit about having an answer for those who taunt me. The criticism, the mockery of others, used to be like arrows in my heart.
Let me ask you, to what extent are you marching to the beat of the world’s drum? To what extent are you dancing to the tunes of the expectations of others? And when you can’t meet those expectations, people criticise you, people reject you, they throw you out like a worthless piece of trash.
We spend way too much time and energy striving, sacrificing, performing in order receive the approval of others, only to fail, only to miss the mark, only to discover that it’s a pursuit that’s hollow and empty and simply not worth the effort.
But the more we get into God’s Word, the more we discover the steadfast love that God has for us, the more we get to know God’s Word and trust God’s Word, the less those things matter. And the less those things matter, the more we discover the freedom we have in Christ.
I shall walk in liberty for I have sought your precepts! Yes! Hallelujah! Absolutely! Freedom. God’s freedom. There is such freedom when we finally get it in our heart that we’re meant to live our lives for an audience of One. That’s what God has ready and waiting for you. True freedom in His ways, in His precepts, in His Word. Jesus said it:
If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (John 8:21,32).
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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