Friday Evening Devotionals

Freedom!

Tom Barnard

 

“The Lord and the Spirit are one and the same,

And the Lord’s Spirit sets us free.”

(2 Corinthians 3:17 CEV)

 

“Perfect conformity to the will of God

is the sole sovereign and complete liberty.”

Jean Henri Merle D’Aubigne

 

In his 1964 book, The Douglass Devotional, Earl L. Douglass told about the time in the mid-1800's when the slaves of the Caribbean area were liberated from slavery. According to the story, a proclamation was announced that the slaves would be declared “free” at sunrise. “Before dawn the slaves gathered in groups and began wending their way to the tops of the highest hills. Then when the sun appeared over the horizon there went up a great shout from these erstwhile captive people. They raised their arms to heaven and cried with gladness, ‘Freedom, freedom, freedom!’” (page 73)

 

Eighteen hundred years earlier, the Apostle Paul declared a similar promise to those who had been held captive by sin, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!” Only a slave can understand the depth of the meaning of that word, “Freedom!” It is the exact opposite of “Captivity.” Freedom teaches that the shackles that once bound us are gone. Gone! Song-writer Haldor Lillenas embellished the term, calling it “Glorious Freedom!” In case the song is not in your hymnal, here are the words. Read them with me:

 

Once I was bound by sin’s galling fetters; Chained like a slave, I struggled in vain.

But I received a glorious freedom When Jesus broke my fetters in twain.

Freedom from all the carnal affections; Freedom from envy, hatred, and strive;

Freedom from vain and worldly ambitions; Freedom from all that saddened my life!

Freedom from pride and all sinful follies; Freedom from love and glitter of gold;

Freedom from evil temper and anger—Glorious freedom, rapture untold!

Freedom from fear with all of its torments; Freedom from care with all of its pain;

Freedom in Christ, my blessed Redeemer, He who has rent my fetters in twain!

 

Heavenly Father, I can remember the feeling. I felt like I had been “chained like a slave” to desires and leanings that were not of God. I can remember that Sunday night, when I was about 12 years old,  bowing at an altar of prayer and confessing my sins to Jesus. I still remember struggling over the idea of taking God at his word, believing that he could forgive my sins. And I remember how I felt “when Jesus broke my fetters in twain.” I remember the joy I experienced when His Spirit assured my spirit that I was a child of God. Thank you, Father, for the memories. Amen.