Today’s devotion is written by Pastor Mike Franklin of The Torch Worship Center
I am a slave, and I thank God that I am. I am serving the Lord Jesus Christ in chains. He owns me. He paid full price for me.
Satan portrays Christianity as a prison. It constantly amazes me how evil can corrupt the great gifts God made for us. He wants us to believe that we are not free to do what we want to do; to live abundantly; to have joy! We are stifled by rules and regulations meant to prevent us from having fun. Our Bible, Satan professes, is judgmental and excludes those who choose a different way of living. Are you listening to him or God?
Freedom comes when we submit to Christ. Freedom comes when He becomes our Master. Doing it “our way” always leads to bondage.
There are 3 rules about freedom I’d like to share with you:
1. Freedom without limits will always go bad.
When I was a kid, my neighbor’s horse got loose from the field, ran straight to the barn, climbed into the feed room, and started eating. By the time my neighbor found old Clyde, he’d eaten 2 bags of sweet feed and was starting on the next. Within an hour, Clyde was in bad shape. The vet was called and after several attempts to drain his stomach, he had to be put down. Freedom for that old Dapple Gray horse didn’t turn out so well.
2. Freedom costs a price.
Ask any man or woman who has served our country. Ask any of their family members. The cost of freedom is high. Some of our military men and women have lost their lives fighting for America; some have lost time away from their children, their wife or husband; some have lost an arm or leg. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, he suffered tremendously; but it was for us – for our freedom.
3. Freedom is found when you chain yourself to Christ.
Romans 6:15-18, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
The choice is yours. You will choose your chains. Either way you are a slave to someone – sin or righteousness. One master leads to destruction and an eternal life of torment. The other Master, my Master, leads to grace and an eternal life in Heaven.
God’s way works! Try it. It is not simply pie in the sky. It is a life that leads to blessing in the here and now.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23.
