Exodus 5: 1 - 2, Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.'" And Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go." NKJV
Very few things in life deserve the price of spilled blood and the loss of life in order to obtain it. However, freedom is definitely worth the fight. If you have never been held against your will, imprisoned, or bound by an addiction, you may not give much thought to the value of freedom. Nevertheless, for millions of people around the world who live under great oppression and persecution, freedom is forefront in their minds.
God created man to have and enjoy liberty. Man had this right because God placed us over the works of His hands; we were "in command." However, along with liberation and authority, the Lord God gave us freedom to choose. Unfortunately, the result of man's freewill was that he chose to subject himself to the control of Satan and his will. Since the fall of man, men have fought throughout history in an attempt to regain their freedom. Still, after thousands of years of conflicts, battles, and wars, we're living in a generation where freedom is only a dream to millions around the world; and those who are a free people are constantly threatened by the enemies of liberty.
Let's look at Israel; they cried unto the Lord to be liberated from their afflictions in Egypt. Even so, after the Lord sent Moses into Egypt to set His people free, the children of Israel soon turned on their liberator. When faced with the harshness of the wilderness, they longed in their hearts for the past land of bondage. Is it not amazing that they sought God for deliverance? Yet, after they were emancipated, they desired to go back into slavery once again? What they didn't realize and what Adam and Eve failed to see is that freedom comes with responsibility. Even though God had delivered the children of Israel and had given them their own land, we see where they forsook God for the idols of the heathen and went back into bondage as slaves to Babylon.
As sweet as freedom tastes to us all, there is still something that lies within all humans that looks for ways to keep us in or pull us back into the bondage of sin. The fallen nature of man doesn't desire to be submitted to God. In fact, the old nature and the carnal mind are enemies of God; we must die to "self" in order to live in freedom. We know that Christ came to free us from the power and the curse of sin. He dealt with the sin nature on the cross so that we could be set free to live a life of liberation through submission. Now that we have accepted Jesus' spilled blood as payment for our sin debt, we have overcome the sin nature. However, we must choose to submit to God's will daily in order to obtain victory over our carnal mind.
We all must make one decision. Is God's freedom worth the price it costs us to gain and maintain it? In the natural, the only way to freedom is to win the victory over our enemies. However, in the Spirit realm, Christ has already won our victory. Nevertheless, the only way to hold on to freedom is to surrender our hearts and lives to God. Satan doesn't want you to view God as an ally; he would love for us all to view Him as our enemy to personal freedom. We must choose to believe the Word of God and live by it, if we truly desire to live free from sin. Faith in Christ is the victory that overcomes the world. If your life isn't surrendered to Christ and His plan for you, will you consider turning the control over to Him? Be set free so that you can enjoy life in Christ today.
Freedom Is Everything,
Pastor Asa Dockery
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