31 days of Learning #4: Free indeed

Each of us is born into a family with their own values and wealth. I'm not necessarily talking $ as the measure of wealth. Riches include shelter, kindness, love, food, security, peace, friendship, and other resources. The worst homes may have little "wealth" for its inhabitants. But nearly every group has some collateral that keeps them together, even if the price for cohesion includes suffering or challenges.


Today I read about the freedom that comes from immersing oneself in the plans our Creator has for us: 
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV

Our culture understands  that self-improvement makes us better. But we're headed in our own directions, trying to build up our egos, our bodies, our self-importance, with things that have no lasting significance.

• A year of gym workouts? In 2 months without maintenance, it disappears.
• Botox? Call back is 3-4 months.
• A face-lift or liposuction? Give it 5 years, if you have a good doc, and you'll look as wrinkly as ever.
• Eastern-style meditation? Lasts until the next idiot swerves into your lane and almost runs you off the road.
• Self-help courses? Temporary fixes unless underlying character are addressed.

You get the picture.


Yet God offers us glorious freedom from self-absorption. The full understanding of why we were created and what our role is on this lovely planet. A career plan that may be winding and mysterious, yet looking back over a lifetime will bring: "Ah, I was SO wonderfully and beautifully made!"

So, what does absolute freedom cost?

• Adoration. Not of self, but of God who is Beyond Understanding or Comprehension. 
• Love. Willingness to open our hearts, , to live wide open to God and others...no matter that it may hurt sometimes.
• Unconditional obedience to One who is Loving Kindness, yet knows the future and accepts the past. Obedience that means acquiescing to lifelong risks in the footsteps of an Omniscient (all-knowing) God, even when the path is not obvious to us.
• Surrender to beauty and gladness in seasons of joy or pain. (C'est moi in autumn/winter.)
• Loving acceptance of our neighbor as self, no matter how horrid that neighbor may appear. (Does anyone know your "whole story" to judge your actions perfectly?)
• Service. Looking out for the interests of others above our own.

This is what I learned today. I am tied in knots only where I do not live in the glorious freedom of the children of God. 

Oh to adore, love, obey, surrender, accept, and serve, so that the Spirit of the Living God can fall with freshness and freedom to rest on you and me...

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. 

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. 

Cleanse me, mold me, fill me, use me...

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. 

Amen.