Pastor Brian Gilroy,
High Prairie Church of the Nazarene
“But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!” [2 Timothy 3:1-5]
Like it or not, our nation, our province, our county and yes, our town and many of its citizens, fit into this category. We make our decisions in life based upon whichever “expert” agrees with our viewpoint. We choose to ignore what we do not want to acknowledge as truth in order to promote opinions and ideas that support our way of life or the view of society.
Our society redefines ideas such as “freedom” to exclude the idea of choice. We dismiss the rights of others in order to focus on the rights we desire for ourselves. Real freedom considers the rights of everyone – those who agree with your view and those who oppose your view.
However, instead of “loving our neighbour as ourselves” we belittle or persecute those who do not agree with our idea of “freedom”. Our society, more and more, has adopted the mantra to “look out for number one” and that “number one” is my fortunes, my future, or my rights.
If this sounds like a political speech as opposed to an inspirational column item – in one sense you are correct.
In 1 Corinthians 10:31 we read, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
That means our faith [the Christian faith] is not something we practice during a church service or in secret, but it must be applied to everything we do in life – in our business dealings; our personal finances; our political decisions; our relationship with our spouses; how we raise our children and how we treat each other.
If we do not allow our faith to permeate all that we do, then we are in danger of denying the very Saviour that we so piously proclaim on a Sunday morning or within the Christian community.
The one thing that never changes, even if the world tries to deny it, is the fact that we are slaves to a sinful nature as Jesus said in John 8: 34-36:
“Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
That Son is Jesus Christ, who died for you to pay the price for your sins and to set you free. To pay a debt that you could not pay – a penalty you owe to God for a life lived in defiance of the known will of God. Through His sacrifice, you and I become children of God. No longer estranged or separated from the God but reconciled to Him. That barrier that our sin erected has now been destroyed.
“True freedom” is what God offers to each of us.
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:8]
True freedom” is something only God can give, for His motives are pure. God is love. Love in its essence is defined as “something freely offered and freely responded to.
God takes the risk of reaching out to you – he daily awaits your response – will you or won’t you respond to His overture of love and forgiveness? Our society has redefined love in ways that are often opposed to God’s definition and to justify their change in definition they attack the validity of the Bible or our Christian faith.
Today, if you are searching for “true freedom”, then look no further than God and the grace, forgiveness, healing, and hope He is extending to you by faith in Jesus Christ.
The real choice is yours. Look to “experts” who will tell you what you want to hear and live a life that leads to an elusive lasting peace or look to Jesus Christ who died, was bodily resurrected from the dead, ascended into heaven, intercedes for you right now and will provide you will that lasting peace you seek.