Friday, July 6, 2012

Freedom to What?

Paul has a way of putting things that gets our attention.  This may be because of his brashness and directness.  It may be because he was of impeccable (in his day) scholarly/apostolic pedigree.  It may be because Paul endured much for the faith and his 'dues' are meaningful to those of us who appreciate hard work.  But I think the major reason Paul's words enter our hearts is that the Holy Spirit has imparted these Scriptural words with both authority and life ... the life breathed by God about our Savior Jesus.


This month as we study the concept of freedom it is worth looking at several directions to this freedom thing.  We have talked about being given freedom from the bondage of the law ... freedom from the thousands of Pharisaical rules ... freedom from Satan's accusations that bring guilt (though not from the conviction of the Holy Spirit) ... freedom from a life directed at self ... freedom from the idols of our time ... and freedom from death that brings eternal separation from God.  Today I want to share a short verse from Paul's writings that tell us we are free from bondage of the popular so that we are free to live in the beauty of God's Kingdom.

1 Corinthians 10:23 says ... "You say, “I am allowed to do anything”, but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial."  I saw a paraphrase of this on a t-shirt that said, "Everything that is popular is not profitable ... everything that is profitable is not popular."  I liked the way the shirt gets to the essence of Paul's words.  In our area there is incredible pressure to seek and be popular.  There are events, places, and people that are "must see."  I ask why?  Why are we so drawn to shadows of life when we are offered life itself from our Savior?  Why should being seen in the right place be better than living life under the protective wing of Jesus?


I was our with my nephew last week as we paddled along a creek in Walton County.  What we saw couldn't be bought.  Last Sunday one of our young families brought their 4 month old son to church for the first time.  He smiled up at me and I shared a priceless moment.  I spoke on the phone with a lady who was about to lose her only brother.  She would have given up every fashionable event ... every posh meal ... every celebrity sighting ... for some more time with her brother.  We settle for too few of those moments when we really have a chance to live, selling them out to a world that offers fireworks that explode and vanish into thin air.  Maybe we should take another look at the popular and look closely to see if those pastimes are worth the value we place upon them.  After all ... everything that is popular isn't profitable!  Pastor Randy

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