Freedom

We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain-that is, through his own body. We have a great priest in charge of the house of God. So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. (verses 19-22)

Read Hebrews 10:11-25

One of the great catchcries over the ages, especially in modern times, is the call for freedom. Everyone wants to be, demands to be, free. They want political freedom, moral freedom, intellectual freedom, sexual freedom, freedom of expression, freedom to bear arms. Some of these are worthy causes; others, patently, are not. Some emanate from a desire for a better society, others are the result of a headlong rush towards personal gratification at any cost.

The freedom that Christ has won for us is of a different kind and is more pertinent to our needs. All of us are born as slaves of sin. Jesus, through his suffering and death, has won us God’s forgiveness and the freedom to be God’s slaves! That may sound like a contradiction, until we recognise that we reach our true potential only when we find our meaning and purpose in God. It is sealed by our baptism. Freedom indeed!

Dear God, thank you for giving me a taste of freedom. Help me to desire it more and more. Amen.

by Richard Hauser, in ‘New Strength for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1998)

Visit the Daily Devotion archives page.