Is "freedom" the greatest illusion of all?

In John 8:36 (NASB), we read: “So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” “You will be free in reality,” one commentator stated about the second part of John 8:36. What are some things that struggle to be free? A 2-year-old struggles to be free from his parents in the supermarket to do what he wants to do.

A worm struggles to be free from the hook on the end of a fisherman’s line. Teenagers fixing to leave the house sometimes struggles with rebellion be-cause they want independence and authority over their own lives. They struggle with thinking they know everything, and then finding out in “reality” that their parents usually did know what they were talking about.

Our country was founded on the principles of freedom, and the government over the years has slowly taken those freedoms to where in “reality,” nowadays, we are not as free as we used to be.

The worst kind of freedom people have wanted in the history of the Earth is freedom from God. Freedom from His authority, freedom from the consequences of sin, freedom to do as we please, and freedom from denying self, taking up our cross and following our Savior.

These are the freedoms that have in “reality” destroyed our own lives, communities and country. What we really need is freedom from sin, freedom from captivity by so many things and freedom from a blinded life by seeing only what is temporary.

This only happens one way. We are free from sin by the power of truth. “What is truth?” we might ask as Pilate once did. The truth of the utmost importance in this realm, and in the realm in which we will spend eternity, is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who died for your sins. You can have that costly gift of salvation by believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and by confessing that Jesus is LORD. Then and only then will you truly be free.

After you believe, you will have the peace that surpasses all understanding, love beyond knowledge and over-flowing joy. This is the only way to be truly free in “reality.” What do you need Jesus to set you free from? Pray about this if something does not automatically come to mind. \

Remember that you will not get help from the Holy Spirit in this area if you do not have Him living inside you. Is it anger? Bitterness? Jealousy? Hate? Depression? Worry? Trauma? Fear? A rebellious heart? A stiff neck? Lustful eyes? Pride? Despair? Some type of addiction? Your past? Whatever you need to be set free from, rest assured Jesus Christ, King of Kings, has the power and authority to set you free from it. His arm is not too short or too weak to save you from whatever it is you need saving from. Brother or Sister in Christ, please prayerfully consider with whom you need to share the way of freedom.

Do you know someone who is in a pit of despair? Who is going to help your friend that is overwhelmed by fear and anxiety? Who can lift up the head of the one who is being destroyed by grief? What is being done about the others who are caught in the traps of unforgiveness, willful sin or lies from the enemy? God once asked in Isaiah, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

Will you respond with, “Here am I. Send me!”? If we are ever to have revival and reverse the course of doom we are on in this country, we will have to do the work of the harvest. In Matthew 9, Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Increasingly nowadays, those who do the will of God are few and far between. They have become an endangered species, and it is getting harder to find anyone living like this for an example to imitate.

Please, do not be like the majority of American “Christians” that only serve themselves instead of being a servant to all or being a servant to the King of Kings. A good starting place to ending all your struggles with “freedom” on this earth is to trust and obey God’s Word. There truly is no other way to be happy in Jesus, in this world and with everything that comes with this life.

Are you going to trust Jesus as an all-sufficient Savior?

Are you going to obey God and take Him at His word? This will mean that you will have to agree with what He says is evil is actually evil, and what He says is good is actually good. It also means you will have to take a stand in your life for what is right and against what is wrong.

It will cost you here on this Earth, but that cost will be outweighed by your reward in heaven. If you never stand for or agree with God on these things, one of two things will surely happen.

First, you will never have much of a witness at all, and it would be hard to find you guilty of being a Christian when you live a life trying to make sure you do not offend anyone with the truth. Second-ly, you will always be confused and trapped by the enemy who wants to make sure you never settle on any absolutes on what is right and what is wrong or what is good and what is evil.

Either of these will be harmful to your Christian faith walk and testimony when witnessing. Will you choose the true freedom that is available through salvation in Jesus Christ, and living by the commandments, statutes and principles found in God’s Word? Or will you be trapped, tricked or tormented by the enemy, your flesh and the world? The choice is up to you.