Free

     What are you in bondage too?  What enslaves you?  Maybe you don't even realize what's really going on.  Are you angry?  Bitter?  Have you told a lie and then had to tell another and another just to cover up the first lie?  Perhaps you've taken something that doesn't belong to you.  Or maybe you want something that belongs to someone else.  Do you find yourself jealous when someone gets something and you don't?   Are you addicted to anything?  Do you have to have whatever that is to get over an issue or deal with something? 
    I've been using the Good News translation of the Bible lately and I have to say it has really brought things to life for me!  For example:  John 8:36  "If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free."  Ok so we were just discussing what we were enslaved to.  And we've heard "if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed" and I agree!  But how powerful this has become to me with this translation!  If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free!  REALLY FREE!
     Wanna know what freedom is really like?  Well lets start with our questions from the first  paragraph.  If you have Jesus as your Lord, you are free. How?  Anger--you will find yourself on a better level emotionally and won't let anger take over your life.  Things that used to set you off won't do so as easily anymore.  Oh it's ok to get upset about something.  But God will show us a way to do it so that we don't hurt others or make Him look bad!  After all, if we claim to be Christians, don't we represent Him? 
     What about bitterness?  Hebrews 12:15 tells us "Guard against turning back from the grace of God.  Let no one become like a bitter plant that grows up and causes many troubles with its poison." So do you want to be free?  Pray.  Ask God to show you where your bitterness comes from, and give it to Him.  He will set you free.  If you need to forgive someone, forgive.  If you need to confess to someone you've wronged and ask their forgiveness, then do it.  Obey whatever God tells you to do.
     Lying.  Oh boy.  Been called Pinocchio?  When we were kids I think we were kinda lead to believe that lying was the worst sin ever!  We knew we were going to hell if we lied!  I remember lying twice as a child and I also remember thinking the first time I lied that satan (aka the ole' booger man) would come up out of the ground, grab me and take me back to hell forever!  Thing is, telling a lie, like all sin,  is bad.  And when you tell one lie and then have to tell another or you are caught in the first lie,  that turns into bondage doesn't it?  John 8:32 says "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free".  Truth?  Jesus IS truth!  Do you know Him?  Then you can be set free from the bondage of lies if you just come to Him. Meet Truth face to face.
     Hmmm....taken anything that wasn't yours lately?  Been jealous that someone had something you wanted so you coveted it?  Schemed so that you could have it?  Like some of these others, we can go back to the 10 Commandments for that one.  Doesn't matter what it is, if it belongs to someone else it's not yours so hands off!  And for that matter, mind off!  Even thinking about wanting something that doesn't belong to you can become enslaving.  You will find yourself thinking up ways to get it and you won't care who it hurts.  NOT God's plan.
     Now addictions come in all shapes and sizes.  I used to claim that I was addicted to chocolate and joked that the streets of Heaven would be paved in gold foil, not gold.  And when we pulled back that gold foil we would find Hershey's milk chocolate!  Well I quite joking like that when I had some health issues and now I can't remember how long it has been since I had Hershey's milk chocolate.  Health issues did away with my addiction and that's a good thing.  But the Lord then convicted me of my attitude about chocolate and that was the real problem.  That addiction held me in bondage and made me believe I couldn't live without Hershey's milk chocolate.  Guess what......I can.
     God has a plan for your life.  It's not to live scheming, lying, stealing, bitter etc.  Jesus died so you don't have to live that way.  He wants to know us and when He knows us, free us.   And the only way you can be free,  REALLY FREE, is to give your life completely to Him.