In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world. When the time came to completion, God sent His Son...I got to thinking about my own time of slavery. When I was 12 years old I made the intellectual and heart decision to ask Jesus to be my savior. I knew that because of my sin I was separated from God and was doomed to Hell. I wanted to spend my eternity in Heaven. I was baptized in water, but I didn't change. I was a slave to the tides of my emotions and the hurts in my heart.
Over the course of many years I tried to follow God, but I was doing it in my own effort. I memorized tons of scriptures, studied God's Word and was mentored by amazing people God put in my path. He was there with me and gave me spiritual discernment that I did not have had on my own.
But I didn't exactly consult God about how I was living my life and the decisions I was making. I tried and tried many ways to fill the vast emptiness inside of me through the tempting offerings of a sinful world. The void got bigger and bigger, and the pain inside me from all the losses and wounds grew increasingly unbearable. One day I was driving on a mountain road, considering driving off the road to end the pain, weighing the permanence of such a decision and the devastation it would wreak on others. In that moment, God spoke the words of His Son to my heart:
I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. John 10:10That's what I wanted! I didn't want to die! I wanted to really, really live! What a life-giving moment. My decisions from that point were based no longer upon existing, enslaved to my feelings and past, but upon THRIVING--living in the fullness of my salvation through having Jesus be Lord of my life.
As I have grown in my relationship and trust with God, I have seen how the more I let the Holy Spirit take control in my heart and trust Him with the difficult trials, I have peace and freedom. I don't ever want to go back to that time of slavery from which God rescued me at just the right time.
Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1As the time nears for special celebration of the birth of Christ, I celebrate how He liberated me from the chains and encumbrances of this world into freedom in Him. I AM FREE!
