A couple of months ago I had the privilege of going to New York City for the first time. I went with my mom and we did all the touristy things. We went to the observation deck of the Empire State Building (it was freezing!), we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (also freezing!), we saw the World Trade Center Memorial (again, freezing!), we took a stroll through Central Park (it snowed and it was actually pretty magical, but still freezing!), and of course, we went and toured the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
While on the tour we learned of the struggle, pain, and toil immigrants went through to reach the land of the free. Whole families would work in order to save enough to be able to send just one family member and that one person would cram into a boat with thousands of other immigrants (10% of which didn't survive due to unsanitary conditions). Then, when they arrived, they would go through medical inspections and court trials to see if they would be allowed to go on through to the U.S. (2% of immigrants were deported back to their homelands, in a month that could be upwards of 1,000 people). 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." |
In this wonderful land of the free that we were born into, we don't understand what it means to fight, struggle, or labor for freedom. And when it comes to spiritual freedom, Jesus took all the suffering and pain for us, HE did all the work. Because of this, we often take our freedom for granted and fall back into the sins that enslave us. Or even worse, we sometimes see Christianity as a form of imprisonment with rules and guidelines of do's and don'ts. But Jesus came to set us free. Free from what? Free from the lies of the enemy (Matt 24:4), free from the shame and guilt of our past (1 John 1:9), free from our daily worries (Matt 6:25-34), free from the chains of our sin (Rom 8:2), free from death (Rom 6:23). We are so blessed to have been given our freedom (yes given, we didn't have to do anything for it!).
Paul tells us in Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."
There is freedom in Christ and we should never forget, neglect, dispose of, or take it for granted.
Praying for snow and for you as well,
~Vicky
Paul tells us in Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."
There is freedom in Christ and we should never forget, neglect, dispose of, or take it for granted.
Praying for snow and for you as well,
~Vicky