May 10 - Freedom? Really?

May 10 – Freedom? Really?

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” (John 10:7-18)

Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

There is actually a lot of freedom for us in that statement.  I remember people talking about how they figured they would wait until they got really old before becoming a Christian so that they could do all of the things they wanted to first.  Then, when their bodies were all worn out, they’d become a Christian and do the boring things that Christians do.

In ancient times, people actually waited until their death bed to be baptized.  They thought that forgiveness of sins was a one-chance thing.  Baptism was the cleansing required to forgive all their sins and it could only happen once.  Emperor Constantine, who pretty much solidified Christianity as the religion of the Empire believed that. 

Now, don’t think for a minute, that I believe this statement of Jesus is free reign to do whatever we like and we’ll be ok. 

But, what I do believe is that as Christians we are actually offered a lot more freedom than we think.  Jesus wants us to enjoy life, not get mired down in rules and regulations that the world seems to press in on us.  Remember those two commandments that He gave us.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

As long as we keep all of that and the ramifications that go along with disobeying those laws in mind, we get to enjoy life.  Just about any sinful thing that you can consider doing will go against one of those laws.  But, Jesus didn’t want us to spend our time worrying over whether or not we are doing something sinful.  He wants us to spend our time thinking about ways that we can love those around us.  He wants us to spend time thinking about ways that we can love God with every molecule of our being.

So, I think back to those who thought that living as a Christian was boring, it was better to wait until all the wild oats were sown. 

No … there is great excitement in being a Christian.  And within that, Jesus gives us permission to be free to do a great many things.