You can choose to be free
We are given a choice. Freedom or bondage?
I pray to walk in freedom. For years I have prayed to walk in freedom in all different areas In my life. I want to be free from my sin and I don’t want to live in shame. I want to feel free to be who I am with no judgement. Jesus came to set me free and I want to walk in that freedom. It’s what we all want right. Why would I want to feel chained to the things I hate?
I just told one of my friends all the things about my life. I told her the things I struggle with and the things that hurt me down to my core. The things that I carry with me and hold shame for. And after I finished telling her about it and how I want to walk in freedom, I put my phone down and I heard the Lord say “but do you choose freedom?”
Woah! Do I choose freedom?
My initial, right off the bat answer was “aren’t you supposed to be the one who gives me freedom…”
And then I thought about it.
And I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say of course I do it’s what I’ve been praying for but as I sat there and thought about the question some more I realized that in some things I don’t. I pray for freedom and I want to walk in freedom but i don’t always take the steps to actually be free. I pick and choose what I feel like the Lord can free me from and I let Him in the areas I think He can and I bury the ones I think He can’t.
But I have a choice. I accepted Jesus into my life 5 years ago. I believe God sent his son to come and die for me so that I could be free from my mistakes and live a life fully known and loved by Him. And when I chose Jesus, He gave me a choice to choose to stay in bondage to my son or walk in freedom. I get to choose if I let Jesus into the parts of my life I feel like I can never be free from. Ultimately Jesus will be the one to free me but I get to choose to walk out of the bondage into my Fathers arms and let Him free me. I can choose every morning when I wake up to walk towards Jesus in freedom in every step I take during the day. I will never be free if I don’t choose to walk toward Jesus knowing there’s freedom in Him. It won’t always be easy but the Lord gives us a way out of temptation and takes us into His arms every time (1 Corinthians 10:13).
At training camp my squad mentor, Amy: she’s the best and filled with all the wisdom it’s really great, talked to us about Adam and Eve. You probably know the story. Adam and Eve decided to eat from the ONE tree that God told them not to eat from in the garden which brought sin into the world. God gave them a whole garden full of fruit trees and they chose the ONE tree that brought death. ONE tree in a sea of other trees they could’ve gotten fruit from. It was ONLY ONE tree they had to avoid.
But think about your life, how often do you eat from THAT ONE TREE?
Amy pointed out that when we are tempted by the 1 thing (that one tree like Adam and Eve) that will bring death in our lives there are 99 other things that the Lord has provided that will bring life. A SEA OF OTHER THINGS THAT WILL BRING LIFE. That stuck with me. I’ve thought about that several times since I’ve been home from training camp because I want the things that bring life duhhh. And as I sit here that comes to mind again. And it reminds me I have a choice. I can choose to walk toward Jesus in freedom and choose the 99 other things that bring life or I can choose the one thing that keeps me in bondage. Jesus gave me a choice and He wants me to choose Him. He waits, arms open for me to run to Him. He wants to bring life and give freedom but I have to choose to take the steps towards Him.
Choose the people that encourage you to be free also because they help you walk in the freedom Jesus gives. They encourage. They love. They are some of those things that bring life.
