Free To Choose

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Christ set us free so that we would be free. It sounds pretty simple, and yet we’re not always free. Sometimes we’re like Lazarus. Jesus raised him from the dead, but he was still bound. Jesus had to tell the people who were watching, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” And sometimes after our grave clothes have been removed, we choose to put them back on. Paul tells us that if we don’t stand firm, we can be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. I want to know how to keep that from happening, don’t you?

The Greek word for freedom is Eleutheria. It means liberty to do or to omit things having no relationship to salvation. The Greek Lexicon says that true liberty is living as we should, not as we please. The freedom Christ has given us is the freedom to choose. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “’Everything is permissible for me’ but not everything is beneficial.” We are free to choose, but not every choice we can make is good for us. 1 Peter 2:16 tells us not to use our freedom as a cover-up for evil. We are to use our freedom to live as servants of God. If we choose to live as we please rather than as God intends, we will be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. I want to be a servant of God, but being burdened by a yoke of slavery doesn’t sound very appealing. The word translated “burdened” means to harass, badger; to have it in for; to be entangled, to be enmeshed. No wonder it doesn’t sound appealing.

Our choice to follow Christ sets us free to be His servant. Our choice to follow our own will makes us makes us entangled and enmeshed. Just as Isaiah prophesied, Christ came to proclaim freedom for the captives. Let’s stand firm in that freedom by making the choice to follow Him.