Freedom

2/8/2012

John 8:33- “They answered him, ‘we are Abraham’s descendents and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’”

Interpretation: What is love without hate? What is peace without war? What is freedom without oppression? How can we desire to be set free if we don’t even recognize that we are being tormented? The Jewish people Jesus is talking to are reminding Jesus, as if he forgot, that they are descendents from Abraham. They are children of God, and they are not slaves of anyone. But Jesus tells them that they still need freedom. I remember when I was young watching something on TV about a man who would lash his own back in order to show God that he loved him and wanted to endure the same pain as him. This is not Biblical, unless we start talking about demonic influence. Jesus came to set this man free, he bore the sin, the pain, the guilt, and the shame for us, so that if we ask to be forgiven of our transgressions in his name- we will truly be set free of them! Not everyone is as extreme as this man in the physical sense, but some struggle with warfare in their minds or emotional toil in their hearts; beating themselves up, and wrestling with confusion or disgrace, all a result of not knowing the truth (v.32), or, not truly knowing Jesus for who he is. I can definitely say that, while I have never been a slave to anyone, I can take the less intense path than the man who disfigured himself. Mental slavery. Not fully knowing the truth, not really knowing Jesus in his completeness has allowed Satan to grab on to strongholds in my life to hold me back and repress areas of my life that God can make full and beautiful and complete when I find the truth that conquers the lies floating around in my mind.

Application: I will pray today and ask God to reveal to me a lie that I believe about myself, and will then find a scripture to memorize that dominates it.