Freedom – I/You can have it!

‘Freedom!’ According to the film Braveheart, these were allegedly the last words or William Wallace played by Mel Gibson, as he was tortured prior to being killed (Braveheart – Paramount Pictures – 1995). But what freedom did Wallace want? Wallace and all of Scotland, wanted freedom from the oppression of the English.

Freedom is potentially something that we all want.

Teenagers want freedom from ‘nagging parents’ or schoolwork, and to be able to do whatever they want. As young adults, some want the freedom to be able to drink alcohol, go wherever they want. As grown adults, some want high-paying jobs, or job security, or a fancy car and large house. The elderly sometimes wish for freedom from loneliness, pain, or the suffering of illness. Some people now especially, want freedom from debt due to rising costs of living. But we all want freedom from something, or even something for free.

The thought of complete freedom is alluring, but nothing is completely free.

‘There is no such thing as a free lunch’ (Milton Friedman).

That statement does not literally mean that there is no free lunch, it is simply stating that at some point along the chain, somebody has got to pay for the food being consumed.

Many years back, and even more recently, some public houses used to put out free dishes of food, sausages or nuts etc. Generally, these foods had a high salt content resulting in the fact that the person eating the ‘free food’ would normally be buying more drink to satiate the thirst cause by the salt. Hence, the food was not free, as the extra drink consumed, more than paid for the food.

But still, we like the idea of free, or freedom.

The Bible says;

‘Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV).

That is not to say that anything that we want is free, or anything we do is free from consequences.

Hillsong sing a song, and the lyrics say;

‘I have freedom, I have freedom

Thank You Jesus, I am free

No more chains on me now in Christ I live

Thank You Jesus I am free

Freedom – 2021 – Joshua Grimmett and Reuben Morgan

To us as Christians, the freedom that we should seek, is the freedom spoken of in the song. The freedom that comes from knowing the Risen Saviour Jesus Christ. The freedom that comes from knowing that we will spend eternity with Jesus once our mortal shells expire.

This freedom is worth shouting about, and it is entirely free.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV).

‘For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin’ (Romans 6 :6-7 NIV).

‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free’ (Galatians 5:1 NIV).

We look at freedom and free, not as the world looks at it, with all the materialism, but as followers of Jesus.

‘Do not conform to the pattern of the world’ (Romans 12:2 NIV).

This week at church, we remembered our triumphant King entering Jerusalem on a donkey. It was brought to my attention that only royalty rode, and so as Jesus came in riding, the symbology was there. It was as if he was saying, ‘Hi, here I am your King.’

People did not understand what was happening, although there was much shouting and praising (John 12:12-16).

Jesus came and died for us, to give us something so valuable, that not even all the treasure in the world could buy it, and it is free to you and to me. We all need this valuable thing, no one can get into heaven without it.

Wow, you may be saying, give me some of this treasure, just as the Samaritan woman answered Jesus when he talked to her about living water, she recognised that there was something different about Jesus, and she wanted the gift that he was offering.

‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t go thirsty and have to come here to keep drawing water’ (John 4:15 NIV).

So take hold of this free gift that we are celebrating at this time of the year. Grab hold of it, never let it go. Tell all your friends about the gift, encourage them to look for it and ask for it.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV italics and underline mine).

This is worth shouting about.

No more chains on me now in Christ I live

Thank You Jesus I am free

Freedom – 2021 – J Grimmett, R Morgan

Thank you Jesus.