freedom is not free

Just wanted to share some interesting thoughts I got from a pastor's sermon.

Yesterday, a guest speaker came in to preach for my church and his sermon title was called, "Served by Christ". There was a story that he told about a man who was rescued [a few years back?] from slavery from an organization that works to free people that are involved in human trafficking. The ex-slave told his story to this pastor and they talked and talked and he eventually made a point which helped bring together the message of the sermon, which was that slavery kills a man. I thought this was an interesting point he made because it's so true. When bonded to slavery, physically it will wear and tear a man down to his bones because unless by some great miracle, he is bonded to being a slave all his life. Spiritually, it has the same affect. When a you idolize something or prize something so much more than God, you more or less become a slave to it, whether it be pride, money, lust, greed...you get the point. Your heart then becomes so spiritually dead because it's almost as if you've been consumed by it, giving part of your heart to it each time you become more and more "lost" in it. In this case, your heart is almost a hopeless cause because it's been so caught up in the idol...but then comes Jesus and this leads me to my next point: freedom is not free. Just look at the past and the history of the world. Those that were in slavery and wanted to become free had to pay a price. That price was the lives of many men, women, children that fought to gain their freedom. It doesn't have to be just freedom from slavery, it could be freedom from anything. In the same way, for those who are Christians, the freedom you have is definitely not free. It was paid and bought at a price: the death of Jesus Christ and that, my friends, is one of the great fundamentals of the Gospel. Christ shed his blood for us so that we may experience true freedom from the things that hold us down, from the things that keep us from having that wonderful relationship with God. He came and paid that the ransom that we should have paid. He came and paid the debt that we would have had to owe as slaves: living eternally in the fiery pits of Hell. He knew that this was what He had to do because He cared for us deeply, because he wanted us to be free from our sins. His grace is far greater than any of us could ever conceive. I hope I don't sound like some pompous dictator, telling everyone to do this, do that. That is not the point of my message. I just wanted to point out the truth of Christ and what He did for us because it's amazing how so many times we say that we believe and we understand the depth of Christ and His love for us, but...honestly, do we really? We say that we will go anywhere and everywhere that Christ leads but when He actually calls us to do so, so many of us turn away and say, "No God, this is not what was planned." When was it ever for us though? I'm not pointing fingers because I'm as guilty as charged as any one of you guys are...

I guess I just want to challenge those that are struggling with whatever problems that you may have in your lives and take the time to really understand what it means to be free. This life is definitely not going to be an easy one but God is with us, every step and He will be with us every step until we have reached our finish lines. Let's encourage each other and those around us to continue that walk with God, no matter what comes our way. Christ loves us dearly and has proven that on the Cross so let's turn it around and show the world that through the Gospel, others can have the choice to no longer live as slaves, brought down by the heavyweight of their burdens. Through the blood of Christ, they too can have a new chance and a new life.