"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" ~ Galatians 5:1
So tell me Church, do you realize that you are free? I know you have read it and heard it before, but do you actually realize that it is true of you who have the Spirit of God within you? Once upon a time you were not. You were a slave to every whim, desire and temptation that crossed your path but when you switched from the kingdom of darkness to that of light, that all changed. The world, satan, and even your own mind and lusts no longer own you. You are free to make a choice that once you could not. You do not have to listen to the old. You do not have to give in. Those chains which you carry about you are not locked. Sin is not your master. Lust and carnal desire do not control you. Those patterns and habits of your mind and body do not have to be obeyed. You are free to walk away from those empty, hollow things which only ever led you into more guilt and sorrow. "For sin shall no longer be your master" ~ Romans 6:14
" For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other" ~ Galatians 5:17
The old sinful nature desires what is contrary to God for that is all that it knows to do; it is the new which desires God. Now then, if you are truly free and you do not have to walk according to the desires of the flesh, the sinful nature, the old you or whatever else you want to call it, what does that mean if you chose to follow those desires? For it is a choice that you make after all. Does that not mean that you have choosen to rebel against the things of God? I do not say that to cause you grief or guilt, merely to have you take a good look at yourself, your life and how you are choosing to live it. Honestly, some of you - even those saved - do not care one way or the other but you truly should. The old may be familiar and comfortable but it leads to darkness and away from the One who called and saved you in the first place. Why would you want to go back to the old when you have tasted the new? After you have felt the sun and wind on your face, why would you ever want to go back into the cold, dark prison cell you just left?
And do not get me wrong here, this is not bad news but wonderful news for all of those who are saved by the grace of God. We no longer have to obey all of those 'fleshy desires' that eventually cause us so much grief - we can choose to obey and follow the will of God instead.
I do not write to condemn you or point a judgemental finger at you. After all, we are born into bondage to the things of this world - spiritually dead and a slave to sin - so naturally, it can take some time for us to unlearn the lies and learn the truth of things. That would be enough but we still have the old nature, the world around us and the devil all trying to convince us that we are not free at all. And why would they not do so? After all, if they can convince us that we are not truly free from them, then we will not act like we are and will still obey their every whim as though we have no choice.
But we do indeed have a choice.
Listen....
Can you hear?
Your Master bids you to follow Him. And you are free to do so, no matter what tries to tell you otherwise.
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