Let Freedom Ring… Whom Will You Serve?

Joshua 24:15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

On this the 4th of July let there be NO DOUBT that we are free to choose!

“But Mary, it doesn’t FEEL like freedom! It FEELS like… prison… torture… like the apocalypse is right here, right now! I HAVE TO serve the one who rules over me. I didn’t choose this person, place or thing, I voted for the other guy! Even in America, where our blessings are far above what we could have asked for or imagined, it sucks to be me when I must suffer deprivation from that which I consider freely.rightly.mine!”

Maybe you have the wrong object of freedom… Choose for yourselves today

Maybe you expect the wrong profit of freedom… whom

Maybe you are unwilling to pay the price of freedom… you serve

The OBJECT of freedom is not my HIGHWAY to heaven, the OBJECT of freedom is choice – FREE WILL – the ability, the opportunity, and the desire to CHOOSE… 

The PROFIT of Freedom isn’t the paradise of all things perfect. Freedom doesn’t guarantee a perfect path or destination. If CHOICE is the OBJECT then the freedom of that choice is the PROFIT. Without regard to price, freedom is the vision that spurs us to journey on, no matter the people, places or things that hinder our pursuit of that which our heart desires more than life itself. Freedom isn’t the end of a journey, it’s the beginning. We, every person alive, must choose the God or god(s) we will follow to the END OF THIS JOURNEY.

Even Atheists (who do not believe in God/god) must choose whom and/or what their heart (their very soul) will pursue.

Even those who believe they ARE god, must serve someone or something in this life, until they are “fully revealed” in the next life.

The PRICE of Freedom is whatever is required in choosing and pursuing the choice you have made. The guarantee of freedom is not the ownership of all things wonderful, the guarantee of freedom is the choice and pursuit of our heart’s desire.

Our ultimate destination is the hope of spending all of our days, with our god/God in eternal peace and joy. A hope so valuable to us, we will suffer almost anything to arrive at our destination. Whether it’s the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living…we want to arrive!

We think the tasks good works we are given to do should garner grace for our journey.  Our pursuit SHOULD satisfy our god/God, after all we have chosen them. When the cost of maintaining our freedom to choose and pursue becomes more than we have bargained to give, we begin to DOUBT our god/God because, quite frankly OUR god/God should be GRATEFUL. These tasks  good works should make us FEEL happy, healthy and wise. Our service – our journey – our pursuit should never discourage or require more blood, sweat or tears than we are able to give without suffering blood, sweat and tears.

This is where I must be the bearer of the bad news. Freedom is choosing whom/what you set as the god/God of this life. The profit and price of such choice is up to the god/God! You choose whom you serve but whom you serve provides the eternal life and the hoops required to arrive. You don’t get to dictate to the god/God what is their choice to give. At the end of the day there is only two paths that determine the end of your days. The path of good and the path of evil. “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil;(Genesis 3:22) 

We were introduced to evil through temptation and chose to honor evil by disobeying the God of all good who created us and gave us Paradise. We were sent out of Paradise lest we eat from the tree of life (eternal life) and have to live the life of evil forever. Welcome to earth (which is not Paradise), where we get to choose whom we will pursue before the final bell of our life rings and the consequences of eternity are final.

Satan came to this world with us to protect his project (“Hatred of God”) and encourage his victim (God’s fearfully and wonderfully made creature) to choose him and break God’s heart.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

We are the only shot evil has to destroy all that God loves which, in his imagination, would then make him the ruler of all that is left. If that were true there would be no such thing as freedom. No matter what promise evil entices us with, what may look like wonderful will only lead to destruction and death. GUARANTEED! Evil hates God so much that he/it hates everything and everyone born from the hand of God.

Freedom to choose IS a gift given to us by God.  And because it is a gift from our good Creator God, it bears His image. The ability and opportunity to make heart choices. It is a gift that bears a profit worthy of all the wealth in the world. However, it also bears the responsibility to care for and use the gift well and to honor all of our fellow recipients in their care and use of their gift.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 

We don’t earn the gift of freedom to choose, nor do we give the gift of freedom to choose whom to serve, but we can and should seek full awareness of who and/or what our heart chooses to pursue. We can and should COUNT THE COST and the WORTH of god/God we serve/pursue.

There is only ONE TRUE GOD. The God who created us and the God who loves us so much He could not leave us in sin. The God who defeated the god of evil on the cross and offers eternal FREEDOM from sin and death.

You do the math and CHOOSE! Let Freedom Ring… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Revelation 22:12-13 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” 

Come Lord, Come!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.