From Counterfeit to Real Freedom.

“You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.”

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 English Standard Version

Some people have wonderfully imaginative minds and creative abilities. We were in Cripple Creek some years ago and toured an old jail where one of the prisoners had drawn this scene on the wall of the cell.  This “window” was the only view of the outside. He also drew bricks on the solid steel walls all the way around. Maybe the bricks reminded him that the scene wasn’t completely real, that he was in a prison.

I’m not creative in this way but I can still imagine that my freedom is in my own hands. I imagine that by knowing myself better and by trying to be true to myself; or by working hard at my business and building something “successful”; or by doing something that I think God will approve of, somehow, I will gain my own freedom for myself. I want to be on the same level as the One who has the key. Maybe my fear is that the One who grants freedom could decide to revoke it. So, I’d rather be content staring at my prison wall drawing of freedom, even though the cell door has been opened.

There’s an even bigger lie here that I’m made aware of. I think I treat God as though He is the jailer. Picture the shackled prisoner looking up as the cell door slides open, the one standing there holding the key could easily be confused with the one who slid the door shut years ago. Skeptical of the freedom-giver, the prisoner is tentative to explore.

My Father is not the jailer! He has opened the door with the key purchased by blood. Imagine living in real freedom. NO! Imagine no longer – LIVE in freedom! We are being transformed into His image. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Free from guilt. Free from shame. Free from sin. Free from selfishness. Free to walk in freedom. Free to run… Free to dance. Free.

Picture and Text Copyright David Brukiewa