G-d has given us the right to exercise our freedom of choice, yet each decision we make is entirely our responsibility. Knowing the weight of this responsibility, we should choose wisely.
When we speak of freedom, what exactly does that mean? What is freedom? Is it the license to do whatever we want, whenever we want? As children, we may say yes! As adults seasoned from life, we would say no. So what then is freedom?
Freedom is the opposite of bondage. In bondage, you are not allowed to choose, but in freedom, you have a choice.
Yashua wants us free from bondage. Bondage, in spiritual terms, is being restrained from living the way G-d created you to be. Bondage becomes a stronghold. We can have bondage to sin, bondage to addictions, and bondage that leads to corruption, decay, and death.
Rom 8:21, “That it too would be set free from its bondage to decay and would enjoy the freedom accompanying the glory that God’s children will have.”
Our first choice is to choose life
Our first step is to acknowledge we are sinners. Yahshua has redeemed us and gave us freedom from the curse of sin.
Rom 6:6-7, We know that our old self was put to death on the execution-stake with him so that the entire body of our sinful propensities might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For someone who has died has been cleared from sin.
Rom 6:22-23, “However, now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you do get the benefit — it consists in being made holy, set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life. For what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God, in union with the Messiah Yahshua, our Lord.”
Our second choice is to follow Him
We can understand why He created us and what our purpose is.
He desires to have a relationship with us. He wants to be by our side in the same way He did with Adam and Eve.
He loves us:
1John 4:10, Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins
He will never leave us:
Deut 31:6, “Be strong, be bold, don’t be afraid or frightened of them, for Adonai your God is going with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
He Wants Us to Represent Him
We are to be the light of the world:
Matt 5:14, “You are light for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” We should be growing in spiritual maturity to reflect the presence of G-d. We are to acquire His attributes.
We are to be administrators of the earth: We have a mandate to keep and guard our garden!
Genesis 2:15, “Adonai, G-d, took the person and put him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it.”
We are to be watchmen on the wall: If we see (as watchmen) that the world becomes more evil, we must warn. We are to resist evil and cling to what is right.
We are in the world, but not of the world.
John 17:16, “They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” It takes the servants of G-d to set the benchmark by living a set-apart lifestyle, to choose not to be silent, to decide to speak out, to choose to make a difference, no matter how small it may be.
We may be small in number, as we take a stand against any form of social injustice, but when we model what biblical servant leadership is, our numbers will grow.
We are to leave a legacy behind: As a servant of the Most High G-d, we determine to leave a legacy. We often think of inheritance as leaving behind money or possessions. G-d’s interpretation of a legacy is to role-model a lifestyle, reflecting the attributes of G-d. Parenting should instill character traits of fairness and equity. A leadership style that reveals the heart of a servant by empowering others, speaking words of wisdom at the right moment, and being a peacemaker, will pass on from one generation to another.
Each one of these actions gets imprinted on the minds of a child and grandchild. It will become part of their makeup, whether they realize it or not.
Proverbs 22:6, “Train a child in the way he [should] go, and, even when old, he will not swerve from it.”
These attributes of G-d continue to grow, and in time, become more powerful in the next generation.
When We Follow Yahshua
Yahshua tells us that His yoke is light. Anything that looks like rituals or traditions will become heavy,
Matt 11:27-28, “My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. 28 “Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Make an effort to live this one life that we are given in expressing gratefulness to G-d at every opportunity!!
May these attributes of G-d be well written onto your hearts, that they reflect the actions (choices) that you make, as you go about your life in the community.
The Beautiful Choice to Love G-d with All Your Heart
Deuteronomy 6:4-9,Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “Sh’ma, Yisra’el! Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, Isra’el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one], and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your resources. These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates.”
True freedom is living the way G-d created you to be.
John 8:36, “So if the Son frees you, you will really be free!”
Amen & Shalom,
Eliyahu Praise
