The Son Will Set you Free
John 8: 31-36
31 To the Jews who had believed in him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Jesus came to set us free from the slavery of sin. He did his part by the cross and resurrection. He continues to stand in the gap; between us and God. He is waiting, watching, ready to come to us and live in us through the Holy Spirit.
It’s up to each of us to believe, and to receive him and his gift of forgiveness and salvation.
What keeps people from accepting Jesus gift? What keeps believers from surrendering themselves fully.
He explains it in these verses that everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Sin, holds us back, and prevents us from being all that God desires for us to be. It is like the sticky gooey mud that we have here in Texas. After the recent rains and floods, a lot of it was transported into homes and cars and places that it does not belong! Like the floods, sin leaves a long trail of destruction behind it that affects everyone. Clean up of all the mud and damage that the flood caused, has taken many weeks and a lot of team work and will continue for months to come.
However, sin, can only be cleansed by Jesus, God’s Son.
Jesus came to set us free from our sins and to help us through the affects that a sinful world has on each of us.
One are of sin that I have struggled with over the years is Fear. It has returned again and again as I have given into it instead of trusting God. I have used it as an excuse to stay home, be safe and hold back. It also brought me feelings of loneliness and depression. I was like the salt that lost it’s saltiness – good for nothing! I knew, that I was not living as God wanted; but just existing in my own strength. I thought that If I was in control of my life then I could avoid the dangers around me, but I was deceiving myself.
As Pastor Delton said on Sunday: “When caught on the road called “deceit” take the exit named “Jesus” ! Jesus was my exit from that way of life that I had grown use to. I realized that I was letting fear guide me instead of Jesus.
As my faith in Jesus was renewed, he helped me to let go of my fear and to trust him, as he lead me to go out and serve him in many new areas. I am still working in this area to overcome the habit of letting fear stop me from following through with what God is calling me to do.
Being set free by Jesus has helped me to grow stronger in my faith and to be more confident in who I am in Christ. One thing that I would like to do better is to talk with others about Jesus and not be afraid of their reaction. I am learning to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit when talking with others about Jesus and the best way to share with each person.
How has Jesus set you free?
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for freeing us from the slavery of our sins. Forgive us and help us to overcome the areas of weakness and areas of sin that have become bad habits. Help us to exit from our old ways and to live in new ways according to your leading us each day. Amen!
PD