Preacher on the Run…

Two people left in two separate rooms can be the most contented people in the world. Four individuals holding four unique devices can be as blissful as a pig in a mud pit. No matter how many people you have as long as they have an arena where they can do as they please, it seems like peace may rule the day. But something changes when people enter the same room. At least that’s how it is around my house.

My son can be enjoying a stuffed animal he has all to himself in his room, blissfully unaware of any other object or human’s existence. But the moment his little sister enters the room and grabs another animal (which he was not playing with or knew was there), you’d think WWIII had been initiated. While it’s easy to dismiss that as toddler behavior, the reality is my inner monologue can do the same thing if my wife wants to get in the same space as me in our bathroom at the exact same moment. Human interactions are interesting realities.

There is another family that I have often seen struggle with the same type of interactions. Each individual or group seems content and happy to get along until another person or group views the situation differently. Meant to be defined by love for one another (John 13:34-35), it seems those of us in the church are often confused about what it means to be “free”. A Christian understanding of freedom is married to responsibility. So how does one follow Jesus’ example and wield that freedom well? Sinclair Ferguson gives “4 Principles for the Exercise of Christian Liberty“.

Maybe “freedom” isn’t simply the absence of restraint, but the willful acceptance of the right restraints. When one thinks of freedom in this way, joy comes not when you get what you want, but when you realize you already have all you need. What did you enjoy about the article? Where did it challenge you? How will you exercise your privilege of freedom today?

As always be with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day.

Until Next Time…

Photo by Naveen Chandra on Unsplash