Freedom!!

I wish that I could honestly say that Memorial Day or the upcoming July 4th holiday is my inspiration to write this blog and it should be. Each day our soldiers face unspeakable dangers and risk their lives for our freedoms. It is something that we should remember and thank God for each and every single day.

But my inspiration comes from my parent's dog - Lucy. You see, my parents put up a brand spanking new fence in their backyard as a space where the grandkids can safely play and Lucy can run free. Up to last month Lucy's exercise was limited to daily walks on a leash with Mom and Dad and short strolls to take a #2 in an open lot besides their house.

This fence represented freedom for Lucy - a dog the size of a minature horse. She no longer needed to be constrained by a leash or a chain but was now free to seek shade under a tree, pee on the side of her favorite tree or gobble up large mammals who wonder into the yard.

It was only a matter of days that Lucy started to disappear every time my parents let her out. Soon it became apparent that she was jumping the fence as though she was in a steeple chase.

I was over my parents house yesterday and Dad asked me to go outside and get Lucy. I found her tied to a chain, surrounded by a fence.

This started to get me thinking. Many of us look at the fence and think that freedom can be found on the other side. They look at the Jesus and see Him as being the fence - keeping them away from countless joys and pleasures. But my parents didn't errect a fence because they wanted to keep Lucy or the grandkids from experiencing nirvana on the other side, but because they knew that she could get lost or worse run over and killed.

And God didn't send His Son Jesus to keep us confined so he can bore us to death. When Christ began his ministry, Luke (4:18-19 NKJV) tells us that He walked into the synagogue and quoted the prophet Isaiah, saying:

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD"

Who are the captives? We all are!! "For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." Sin puts us on the other side of the fence - away from the homeowner... away from safety... away from being fed and loved and cared for... away from hope.

No, the fence is God saying 'My desire is for you to be close to me because the world has nothing that can compare to what I can give you." The fence is not judgement but rather salvation. John 3:17 says:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Are you struggling with your supposed freedom - life outside the fence? Do you find that you are chasing after the hope of a successful career, partying lifestyle, etc. and not finding it?

Jesus says:

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

I want to invite you to seek Him and soon afterwards find a Bible believing/preaching church. Life on this side of the fence is not nearly as bad as you think it is!