Woooo! I’m free!
I had my last exam on Tuesday. School is over. Today I threw over 50kg of notes in the recycling bin. Very satisfying, a sort of purging ritual of two years worth of accumulated burden. (Recycling is perhaps not as satisfying as burning them, but at least it doesn’t contribute a small country’s worth of greenhouse gases. )

There’s a certain thrill in finishing school. It feels like I’ve finished school 3 times in the last few months: there was the last day of school, then the formal, then the actual last day of school, and then, finally, the last exam. It’s like that lighting warehouse on The Entrance road that had a closing down sale for years.

And now it’s all over. I’m actually, completely, utterly, unequivocally free from school. I can watch TV, go to parties, spend all day at the beach, read books…. all without guilt. Roll on Summer!

 But there is another kind of freedom. It’s a better kind, a purer sort, on a deeper level. Freedom transcending all circumstances, whether exams or pain or frustration or fear.

A freedom from caring what other people think of you. A freedom from uncertainty. A freedom from fear of anything, including death. No longer ruled by the world, by its desires and its temptations, but instead ruler of it; not trapped by its lure but able to dictate it on your own terms. Free in the present, set free from the guilt of the past and fear of the future.
The freedom that comes from being in a right relationship with the God who made you, who loves you, and who sent His son Jesus to die: so that you might be set free and enjoy Him for ever in eternal life.

Jesus said “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…. I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” but ”if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Paul the Apostle wrote “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I’ve known this freedom for the past 18 months, and it is awesome! Don’t be content with the partial and transcient freedom of youth, trust in Jesus and know complete contentment, true freedom, and certain hope that comes from being forgiven.
Will you step into this freedom with me?

« »