20 March 2013 - free to give everything

20 March 2013 - free to give everything

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

He doesn't say when you know my word you will know the truth.  He says when you remain in my word you will know the truth.  We must spend time in his word.  We must make it our home.  Only by doing so will its full truth be revealed to us.  Only then will it have its full transformative power.  And only then will it make us free.

Part of the problem is that our sense of freedom is broken.

They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone. 

We think of freedom in terms of whether we can do what we want to do when we want to do it.  This is without regard to what we should do.  We are drawn toward things we shouldn't do and say that it is not freedom unless we can do them.  We are pulled from things we should do and so it isn't freedom if we must do them.  

Even those of us who try to follow Jesus often do so grudgingly, secretly believing life would be better if we just kept our pet sin.  But Jesus shows us, if we remain in his word, what it means to be truly free.  It means to be perfectly obedient to the Father.  It means not to be served but to serve and to give ones life for others.  This is the freedom that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego know.

He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.

The three youths seem to be completely deprived of freedom.  Even as Christians often understand freedom they do not seem to be free.  But they are free indeed, in spite of the bindings and the flames.

“But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”

Because God is the center of their lives they don't need to cling to even the most basic "freedoms" of the world as long as they cling to God.

If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up.”

And trusting, the are brought through it to rejoice.

“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;

We can't claim this truth by inheriting it.  

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham. 

Only Jesus can bring it to us each individually because of his unique relationship to the Father.

I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father.”

This is the truth that can make us free.  It will make us free if we abide in his word and let it change us.  We must cling to it and allow ourselves to surrender false truths about freedom as he shows us in what true freedom consists.

So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.