Perfect Freedom
John 8:31-38
March 13, 2015
I remember the days (they seem so long ago) that I couldn't wait to grow up so I could be truly free. How little did I know what I was talking about!
One day Jesus told his told his followers, "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 8:32). His listeners were puzzled; they thought they were free already. But Jesus had a different sort of freedom in mind.
Jesus knew that as human beings, we wear chains of a different sort. We wear the chains of wanting what other people have (envy). We wear the chains of wealth (greed). We wear the chains of seeking physical pleasure (lust). We wear the chains of insisting on our own way (ego). We wear the chains of worry, stressing about what we will do if we can't have what other people have, or if we lose our wealth or can't get our own way.
But here is the confusing part. I think that there is a difference between breaking free from those chains, on the one hand, and discovering true freedom--the freedom that comes from serving Jesus Christ. This freedom is a paradox--through serving we become free. This paradox is expressed in a prayer from The Book of Common Prayer: O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know
you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom..." Or, as Jesus himself put it, "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36).
A Prayer for Today: Lord Jesus, set me free from everything that binds me, so that I will be free to love and serve you. Amen.
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