Finding freedom

In days to come, when your son ask you, “what does this mean?” Say to him, “with a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.“

Exodus 13:14

At some point in each of our lives we will find ourselves in the land of slavery.

Seven years of famine brought the Israelites to Egypt where they found food and safety at the hands of their brother and savior, Joseph. 430 years later, these same Israelites find themselves enslaved in Egypt because of others fears. God saw their struggles and pain and heard their cries, and provided another savior, Moses, to take them out of their slavery and back to their Promised Land.

I would be willing to bet, that none of us planned to be enslaved. Maybe you thought, this will be fun or one time can’t hurt. Maybe your slavery truly started by harmless enjoyment of some thing or someone. Maybe you found shelter or safety in the wrong place. Maybe all your friends were doing it or someone told you it would be okay. Maybe you were naïve, gullible, impressionable. Maybe you thought you could help your family or friends. Maybe you thought you were finding freedom in slavery. Whatever the reason, whatever the enslavement, you found yourself there and you thought there was no way out. But God sees you, he hears you, and he sent his son, the Savior, Jesus Christ, for you. He will free you from whatever you are enslaved to.

I will never forget the years I’ve enslavement I found myself in. I will never forget the flashbacks, the people that took advantage of me, the crying, the hurt, and the harm I caused myself. But more than the slavery I was in, I will never forget the freedom I found in Christ.

Jesus replied, “very truly I tell you, everyone who sent as a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but his son belongs to it forever. So if the sun set you free, you will be free indeed.“

John 8:34-36

Jesus didn’t come so that we would be enslaved, Jesus came so that we could live abundantly.

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:10

God wooed me for years. Since a small child, I knew him, I believed in him, but it wasn’t until I chose to truly follow him that I became free. My past had me in so much bondage and it weighed heavy on my present time. It was in my early 20s that I knew my marriage wouldn’t last with all the chains that I wore. So, I gave it all over to God, and I began to seek him fully and daily.

Through Moses’ relationship with God the Israelites found freedom. Through Jesus’ relationship with the Father, we find freedom, but to have this freedom we must be like him and have a relationship with Him, too.

We can’t just believe and have freedom, even Satan believes. We must have a relationship, and to have a relationship we must talk and listen.

Moses talked to God, first in a burning bush and then in daily prayers. Jesus conversed with God through prayer daily and by going to the temple to listen and preach. When I found freedom, I started by talking to him daily in prayer, listening to him through His Word daily, and choosing to worship in at a Bible preaching church weekly with fellow believers and under preachers and pastors who were filled with wisdom.

If you are tired of being in slavery and you really want to be free to live the life that God has for you, start by seeking him daily. He’s there and he’s waiting on you. You can’t be too far gone. There’s nothing you’ve done that he won’t forgive. He wants for you to live abundantly in his promised land.