The desire to be free is one of the strongest urges in human nature. But how can we obtain the highest form of freedom?
To some people, freedom is the right to do whatever they please, whenever they please, with no one telling them what to do. Such people may rebel against the restraints of morality and Divine law. But how free are they really?
Talk to the drug addict who is so hooked she will lie, steal, or become a prostitute to finance her habit. Then ask her, "How does it feel to be free?" Talk to someone who has really practiced the "free love" philosophy. The prodigal son was one of these. He wasted his living with harlots. But before he finally repented, he was feeding hogs for a living and was so hungry he would have eaten the hog slop! How does it feel to be free, Mr. Prodigal Son?
People who ignore God's moral laws are free like a ship without a rudder is free, or like a train without tracks is free. They have no restraints, but they cannot possibly travel in the direction they really need to go, and they will surely end in a wreck!
How can we really be free? In John 8:31,32, Jesus said: "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Romans 6:17,18 says: "...you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And [were then] set free from sin..."
True freedom is the fruit of obedience. Rather than being free by disregarding God's laws, we are truly free only when we choose to submit to God's laws. The Bible restrains and confines us, like the rudder restrains the ship and the tracks confine the train. But only then are we free to go where we really should go without wrecking our lives.
(c) Copyright David E. Pratte, 8/2006
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