Daily Archive

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” Galatians 5:1

I have a friend who’s been in and out of prison for what seems to be his whole life. He gets out of prison but it’s hard to stay ‘clean’ and soon he finds himself back behind bars. As he told me on one occasion, there seems to be a security behind bars that he can’t find anywhere else. It’s a security he can’t find in ‘freedom on the outside.’ So he serves his time, steps into freedom, tries to make a ‘go of it’ and fails, only to find himself in the familiar and ‘safe’ walls of prison.

Sound weird? It’s not. We do it all the time. Our human nature tends to steer us towards the things we are familiar with.

I see it on a far smaller scale when our family is on a road trip to some area we are unfamiliar with. When we look for a place to eat we tend to seek security in a place we are familiar with such as a name brand restaurant or fast food place. We do that because we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. They often have the same menu, the same table decorations, and predictable food quality.

One time we were traveling and decided that since we couldn’t find a familiar place to eat we’d choose a cute looking café on the side of the road. It was NOT a pleasant experience. The place was dirty but at least the food was bad!

Sometimes our churches are like that. Everything is the same wherever you go. Some of our churches follow tradition more closely than Scripture. They have the same worship format, sing the same songs, they even have the same decorations! You know exactly what to expect.

One of my favorite verses comes from Galatians 5:1. Paul says, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”

I think, if Paul were here today, he’d explain that verse something like this. “Listen! We serve a creative God. We serve a God who doesn’t change in who he is but does things differently often. Don’t use your freedom to be stuck in a rut and do things the way you’ve always done. Live a little! Don’t stray from God’s ways, but don’t get so sucked into the way you’ve always done things that you become like stagnant water. Mountain streams are always fresh because they are always moving, always changing.

Freedom in Christ, by nature, fosters change in a positive way. So live life in freedom! Allow God’s creativity to flow through your lifestyle and more importantly, through your worship of him! Don’t live behind the bars of security, sameness and ‘we’ve always done it this way.’

PRAYER: Father God, I see your sunsets. I see your sunrises. I see the beauty and creativity of nature and am in awe of you. Help me to live free, to live creatively, while at the same time living a life that is pleasing to you. Thank you for the freedom to be creative! Amen.