1 Peter 2:16

You are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.

On the face of it this verse doesn’t seem to make much sense. Surely freedom means that you can do whatever you like? All constraints have been thrown off and you can do exactly what pleases you. But it doesn’t take long to realise that this kind of freedom would be a horrific experience. If you were able to do whatever you wanted, then you would have a licence to dominate everyone else and to destroy whatever you liked. Freedom ruled by our own selfishness would be nothing less than hell on earth.

The New Testament introduces us to the concept of true freedom, and that can only be found by being slaves to God’s will. By finding his perfect will for us we are set free to be everything that God intended us to be. When we get to heaven God will not ask us: “Why weren’t you like Abraham, Moses, David or the apostles?” He will look to us to be everything that we were created to be, which will be very different from everyone else.

A fish would not be free if it were taken out of the sea, and an eagle would not be free if it were not allowed to fly in the sky. By the same token, we are not free until we learn what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. All the time we allow the world to rule our values, thinking and expectations we will be chained and completely unfree. However, as we live in step with the Spirit, his fruit will flow from our lives and we will not only experience freedom for ourselves, but also naturally encourage others to find that same freedom for themselves.

Question

Are you free?

Prayer

Loving Father, thank you that you not only call me to a life of freedom but also fill me with your Spirit to enable me to live freely. Amen