Day 75: Freedom in Him

Reading: Psalm 34:11-22

There are many times in life we find ourselves bound by the chains of many different things. What we read in Psalms today though tells us there is hope and freedom in crying out to God. He promises He hears the cries of those who seek refuge in Him. He will set us free from the things that enslave us and have taken over our lives. There is a freedom that comes from only God. Turning to other things will leave us disappointed in the long run, and may even enslave us more. One thing we can do is look back on previous trials and hardships and remember God's presence when we called out to Him. Seeing where we were then in comparison to where we have come can encourage us to cry out to God in our next storms. We were never promised to never have storms, but God promises to hear our cry when we seek His refuge.


Reading: Luke 1:57-80

There is an extent of symbolism between Zechariah's muteness with the time of Roman rule and oppression. Once John was born, people thought he would be named after his father, but once Zechariah insisted that he baby's name be John, he was free to speak again, and he praised The Lord. Because of Zechariah's obedience and faithfulness to The Lord, he was set free of his muteness. John came to prepare the way of Jesus into an oppressive time. Jesus was coming to set the people free by carrying out and obeying the mission and will of His Father. Because of His obedience, we are set free. When we fail to obey God, we are oppressed by our own will and consequences.


Reading: Numbers 4:1-5:10

Our freedom is never to be taken for granted. Because Christ has set us free, our life should be a response to His love. In doing this, we serve in our churches, spread His Word and worship. The people in Moses' time each had gifts and jobs they carried out. His is a foreshadowing to the church. God gives His people gifts and skills to help Him carry out His mission. When we simply come to His church as consumers and not contributors, we are taking advantage of our freedom. We live in a country that we can openly serve and worship Him, and failing to carry out His mission and use our individual gifts is not giving back to Him. May we do our part in God's plan. He can surely work through someone else, but the blessing of being in His work is far greater than being a spectator of it.


We are granted a great freedom through Christ. When we cry out to Him and seek refuge in Him in our times of trials, we can be set free of our worries and storms, and grow in them. We can find freedom when we obey Him. And we can have freedom when we do His work. May we never take our freedom in Him for granted.