It began last night. Passover. A celebration of freedom.
But freedom doesn’t come easy. Ask anybody struggling to be free of an addiction. Or any soldier in a war protecting his country’s liberty.
Or, if you could, ask a Hebrew child who had to quickly gather what belongings they could carry, and leave the only home they knew, even if that home had brought hard living.
Or ask my mom.
If she could speak her heart this morning, she’d tell you that freedom’s price tag is steep. Right now freedom still feels like bondage. Being taken care of by others, when you don’t see the need, feels stifling and restrictive.
But it’s not.
When God’s people quickly left Egypt on that eerie night of grief for some and relief for others, freedom meant escape from slavery. From whippings and unfair demands. But it also meant they were about to be totally dependent on Yahweh. If they were to survive the Red Sea, the mountains ahead, the wilderness passage, they had to rely on Another.
Sometimes, it takes hard living and sad times to spur us towards freedom. We have to realize how dirty we are before we want to get clean.
After caking on layers and layers of filthy self-righteousness, being washed clean becomes more and more attractive. And freeing.
Jesus offers to spray us off with His blood. To clean us up.
To change us.
To give us hope.
To bring us to life.
Because He already paid the price for our freedom.
So I’m breathing Him in this holy week.
In the upcoming weeks, I hope to literally breathe even easier. Surgery tomorrow to correct a deviated septum is my passover day to freedom. The pain of leaving the known to wander in the wilderness a bit is a small price to pay for promised freedom to come.
Each day this week, may we appreciate more our walk out of Egypt.
If you’re a believer, you’ve passed over from captivity to release, from confinement to liberation, from death to life.
Living freely is the only Way to live. Depend on it.
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6 comments:
This is a beautiful post, Lisa. You have such a gift when it comes to taking your everyday events and bringing them into a spiritual lesson. I liked that last thought on taking every day and appreciating our walk out of Egypt - I needed that reminder...
I never really thought about the contradictions in these terms before. Our freedom comes through or dependence. So like God to accomplish things differently than we would, or should I say, so like us to do things so differently than God. The world's way to freedom is dependence on noone and very "me" centered. Thanks for your insight again Lisa.
Ah, living freely...sounds so simple, yet not always so easy to one who struggles with worry. Thank you for a thoughtful post on the freedom only found in Him.
So good ... how often i forget that freedom, running fast on this hamster wheel like i do. Great post.
Thanks for the words of truth and encouragement!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Passover and the freedom He gives. How easy it is to forget we have it! As Peter reminded his readers in 2 Peter 1:13, we do need to be stirred up by way of reminder. Thanks for the reminder and reflections.
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