Obedience Equals Freedom

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6

Who do you trust? I have friends and family who are trustworthy. Do they know, without a doubt, what my life choices should be? I am a pretty logical person. Do I know, for sure, what the right choices are?

My own understanding of the world, and my path through it, is too easily influenced by my emotions, and what everyone else around me is saying. So many of these things that I hear sound so reasonable. They sound like they would align with what God says. But have I really checked in with the Lord, and his Word, to see if that is true? The enemy gives us just enough truth to make us believe it’s the right thing, and then puts a little spin on it. That makes it so hard to know what the right path is, and leads to many bad decisions. Learning to hear, trust, and obey God’s voice, by getting to know what his Word actually says, leads to making much better choices.

The King you choose to serve will determine the Kingdom you will inherit for eternity, so choose wisely. It is not an insignificant decision. It is not about doing what “feels right” at the time. Choices have eternal consequences. Although, making a bad decision does NOT mean that you are doomed forever. Where is your heart?

Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.             1 Chronicles 16:11

Are you seeking Him? Are you asking Him for direction? Did you think He was steering you one way, and then discovered that you got it wrong? Did you start out following, but then take off on your own? Don’t worry! He is bigger than any mess we could ever make. The point is that we keep seeking Him and his direction.

We won’t get it right every time. And we will forget sometimes who is supposed to be in charge. But Jesus moved heaven and earth to make you His. He will never give up on you. There are countless second chances. He will watch you walk away and patiently wait for you to return, or to come to Him for the very first time. He thinks you are the most perfect thing He has ever made, so He will always see you, always know where you are, and always know what you need. He is always ready with arms open wide to welcome you. And isn’t that what we all really want? Someone who sees the real me, knows everything I’ve done, all the times I’ve turned away or ignored him, and yet still finds me beautiful and worthy.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. Galatians 5:16

He already paid the price for me. My freedom was already bought and paid for by Jesus’ blood when he died on the cross. What a relief that, through grace, I can just be me and not have to figure everything out on my own. Obedience equals freedom.

Let’s clarify what we mean by freedom. This is freedom from the stress of trying to make things work out in your favor, from the shame of what you’ve done, from the fear of what may come. It is not the freedom to do whatever you want to do. It is not the freedom to make up your own rules as you go along, in order to justify your actions.

If you free a dog from a trap, you don’t want him to run right back into it. The enemy tells us that God’s rules are the cage, that freedom means not having any rules. But giving in to our sinful natures is what has made us feel bogged down and trapped in the first place, so don’t keep running back into the trap. Jesus will keep opening the door for us as many times as it takes for us to finally figure it out, but you are wasting precious time that could be spent living in joy, and peace, and light.

Take that freedom that Jesus bought for you and run in another direction. Love, serve, share your story. True, lasting satisfaction can only be found in Jesus, not those traps that we keep running back to.

Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Is there no God in Israel to answer your question? 2 Kings 1:16

We are all searching for something, for answers to our questions, for someone to really see us and accept us, for something to give us purpose, for something or someone to fulfill us. Why do we go searching for these things in so many places, when we have direct access to our Creator? He is the one who knows us inside and out. He is the only place where we will find the things we are searching for. We won’t find it in ourselves, or in anyone else here on earth, or in the occult. Look to the Lord who created you. Only He has the answers.

But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. Psalms 59:16