I am learning so much about freedom these past few weeks. God does not want us to live a life of bondage, he wants us to be free. Free from the things that hold us down, free from the things that hinder us. He wants us to be free from the law yet not living a life of sin. We can choose sin or we can choose life because we have freedom.
Since I have recently moved I have learnt a few things about this because for the first time I am free to do what I want. After many years of being under peoples authority, I can now do what I want. I can choose to recycle or not, I can choose to wrap the cord around the toaster or not, I can choose to place my dishes in the sink or off to the side, in fact I can just, not do my dishes! That is the freedom part. But there is another side to this.
If I desire to be a good steward of the environment, then I should, of my own free will, recycle. Now I do not have to do it to the exacting standards and rules that were formerly placed upon me, but I should recycle. The toaster cord, well, it should not be hanging off the counter because that is silly. Dishes in the sink or not in the sink, well, who cares. If I desire people to come over to my house, then I might want clean dishes and a tidy house.
Just because there is freedom does not give me the right to be a slob. It does not give me the right to be a bad steward of the environment. It does not give me the right to create potentially harmful situations. It does give me the choice though.
When there is freedom there is less desire to rebel. There are happy feelings involved. No bitterness over a toaster cord or a glass jar. You do things because you know they are the right thing to do and there is joy in walking them out.
That is part of the christian walk that I have learnt. Just because I can, does not mean that it should. And when I do what is right, there is joy and peace.
3 comments:
very good thoughts jess.
i totally understand that lesson. totally. lived it walked it, wrong and now for the last several years to try to find the order that comes with the freedom. I would even not take care of other people's things, just cause I thought it was "a possesion" and it shouldn't matter.
I would be sloppy with debts to others thinking that "it's just money" get over it.
there's just more joy in walking rightly in order in that freedom. thanks for sharing this.
by the way, we go with curbside recycling and it's great, they pick up everything!! i mean so much of your waste to be recycled every two weeks for 10 bucks a month!
Saskatoon curbside recycling, and if you tell them that joe and sarah told you about it, i think we may even get a free month!
Thanks for sharing that is a great lesson.
i echo carebear!
it's hard when you have freedom... very hard!
thanks for your last words-- just because you can, doesn't mean you should. i need to hear that! all things are permissible, but not all beneficial.
i am learning to walk this out.
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