This post is part of the Christian Writer’s blog chain. Our theme for July is “Freedom.” I am posting every Wednesday in July on this theme. Click on the links to the right to see what my friends have to say about freedom.
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Have you been to the Korean War Memorial in Washington, DC? Like the other memorials in our capital—the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial—it is beautiful and moving.
Unlike those other memorials, the Korean War Memorial has a personal feel to it. You can interact with the Korean War Memorial—walk among the statues of the soldiers, see their expressions etched in granite, touch the water flowing over the edge of the reflecting pool, and finger the carved words, “Freedom Is Not Free.”
As Christians we talk about our freedom in Christ. We are free from the penalty of sin when we have asked and received forgiveness through Christ.
We are free to live in and through Jesus every day; knowing that we are free from our pettiness when we rely on Him.
We are free from compulsion and doubt by means of the counsel, guidance and help of the Holy Spirit, freely given to us.
All these freedoms and more are ours when we claim Christ as our savior.
But our freedom was bought. The price was the cross. Jesus paid it when he set aside his divinity and became human for our sake. He paid it by being away from his Father’s presence for 33 years. He paid it by being wrongly accused. He paid it by being humiliated. He paid it by suffering physical torture. He paid it by dying the most horrible death imaginable then or now.
Nor was it free for Father God. The Father loved Jesus. He knew the sacrifice, the pain, the humiliation, the death that was in store for Jesus. Imagine how you feel watching your child suffer. How much worse knowing it was your plan. Our Heavenly Father paid the cost of the pain and let it happen just as He had ordained. The plan was perfect. The plan was good. But the plan came with a cost.
Our freedom wasn’t free to Jesus or to our Father. It is only free to us. Followed by the free gift of the Holy Spirit. Our salvation is a gift, freely given; but not freely accomplished.
Freedom isn’t free.
PRAYER: Thank you for the cross, Jesus. Thank you for your plan, Father. Thank you for your presence, Holy Spirit. We acknowledge we are unworthy of these gifts and that although they are free to us, they were bought at a great price. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Amen.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? What other freedoms in Christ do you recognize in your life?
8 comments:
Amen, Carol! This is a post everyone should read.
As for your ending question, one of the great freedoms of my relationship with Jesus is that I'm free to be and become who He made me to be, regardless of the expectations and plans others may have for me. I'm free from judgment and criticism, free to express my love for God - and more importantly, His love for me - in the ways He hardwired me to do so. I'm free from the burdens of living up to the world's images of what I should be like. That's almost as precious as Christ's life, death and resurrection to me. Almost, because if it weren't for his sacrifice for us, I wouldn't be free. If it weren't for his sacrifice, I wouldn't be, period.
@ Traci - well said, especially "if it weren't for his sacrifice, I wouldn't be, period."
Great post...your Korean War Memorial example made me think of meeting people in a church or a Bible study, and how we can tangibly see God at work in people's lives.
A freedom I have is a deliverance from coffee drinking. I used to drink tons of it. One day years ago I asked God what was interfering with my writing because I was having difficulties editing a novel. A day or two before that prayer I noticed that the coffee at work was tasting really weird. Within about a week, I completely lost my taste for it...even the Starbucks/Caribou stuff. And well...suddenly I was able to edit again.
@ Mike - very cool story. God can help us do things; get over things; avoid things that we can't do, get over or avoid on our own.
Carol, wonderful post! We little realize how precious freedom is and how precious were the lives that gave us our freedom...especially the life of Jesus. Praise the Lord that He gave us the gift to be free!
@ Lynn - thanks for the compliment. I do believe I'm singing to the choir here. Oh, we do sound lovely!
Great distinction between freedom and its cost which is definitely NOT free! I have been out of the loop a bit and apologize to some of you in the chain whom I have not had a chance to visit yet. I plan to get back to everyione eventually!
@ Tracy - I appreciate seeing you here. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, doesn't it?
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