Freedom and Bondage

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by Sherry Chamblee

The peace of bygone years, when uncovered, shows us that in reality those years were full of corruption. It was peaceful only because evil deeds were being kept out of the limelight. Then when someone comes in and disrupts that peace while rooting out the corruption, we complain about the lack of peace. Even though we hadn’t been experience the true peace of Godly living.

Fake news points us in one direction, telling us to be upset over this issue or another, while the whole time, something bigger is happening – if only we’d look in the opposite direction.

What we, as finite humans, see as freedom is very often truly bondage. And what we perceive to be bondage, is in reality very often freedom.

Sin enslaves us, traps us in consequences we cannot predict, and holds us for a length of time we cannot alter. Yet the world decries freedom from sin as being a form of slavery – Christians even act like it’s slavery ourselves – bemoaning the list of do’s and don’t’s that we think adds up to the Christian life.

We enslave ourselves to our schedule, figuring that’s just having good character. We tie ourselves to our obligations, as if meeting them all means we’ve met all of God’s expectations. We hold ourselves to a standard that we create, so that we can please God, when He hasn’t asked us to hold to any standard besides the one He has set for us in His Word.

Philippians 1:20 - According to my earnest expectation and [my] hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but [that] with all boldness, as always, [so] now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether [it be] by life, or by death.

So I’ve been working lately at just getting rid of all those peripheral distractions, the trappings that we decorate our Christian lives with in the hopes that we’ll wind up looking good. I can’t say that I’ve been successful yet, just that this is a goal in my life.

Christ being magnified doesn’t mean blindly obeying a set of rules, or adhering strictly to a schedule or a timeline. Christ being magnified means a relationship with Him. He’s the One who gets the pre-eminence in the relationship – which does mean what He says is my command. But it’s not a blind, blank following. It’s a willful decision to turn His direction, to walk with Him.

Once I do that, I’ll tell people about Christ boldly. I’ll walk how He wants me to walk. I’ll rely on Him to glorify Himself through me. And there won’t be anything fake about it.

About the Author:

Sherry Chamblee

Sherry grew up in various cities around northern and central California. This gave her all sorts of stories that sat and festered in her brain, waiting to be let loose. She eventually went to college in Wisconsin, where she met her equally frenetic husband, Rich. They have six (yes, count them) children, two dogs and a cat, and currently reside in a madhouse in the southern California area. As a family, they enjoy being active in their local church. Sherry spends her time writing when not caring for Granny, the kids, the dogs, the cat and any number of strays in the neighborhood.

Sherry Chamblee can be found at http://www.sherrychamblee.weebly.com Or check out her books at http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Chamblee/e/B00BA06RJ2/

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