A Licence for Freedom!

Do you remember that feeling of utter liberation when you passed your restricted license? (ok well some of you will!) Everything, and I mean everything, was riding on that test. Personally, when I heard those magical words, “you’ve passed”, I felt euphoric. I still recall blasting the old-school tune, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, from the tinny speakers of my blue Mazda 323 as I fanged back to college, windows down and a smile a mile wide. I could have been soaring like an eagle, or bounding from mountain top to mountain top for all I knew. What a feeling!

As much as automobile freedom comes from a restricted license, we all know that there are a few rules that accompany the piece of paper. Namely, no passengers. But in my delirious state, I disregarded that rule on day one. Imagine my horror when I saw mum pass by in her car as I drove home from college, my Mazda full of mates on the way to the beach. She was not impressed.

Kinda like a restricted license, God has given us incredible freedom. He sent His Son to die so that we could have the ultimate freedom from all the junk that we do.

I’ve come to realise in recent years that Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said he wanted us to have life, and life to its absolute maximum. In reality, all that stuff that tries to distract us, all these “rules” that people think are associated with Jesus, are simply a result of His desire for us to have a rocking, cranking life. So we should not only enjoy the incredible freedom that we have in Jesus, but pursue a life that honours Him. A life lived to its fullness.

Paul writes in Romans, “You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.” (Romans 6:13, The Message). That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time — remember, you’ve been raised from the dead! — into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.

Article by Sam from www.soulpurpose.co.nz