Freedom and Glory
We took our children for a day outing in the mountains of north Georgia. I pulled into a small country gas station somewhere up there in the middle of nowhere. I got out with my credit card in hand ready to stick it into the slot on the gas pump, but was momentarily bewildered as I couldn't find the credit card slot. After looking all over the pump for a few seconds, a flashback from my long-term memory banks registered in my mind. I had seen this kind of gas pump before. In fact, all gas pumps used to be this way. I wondered, like in days gone by, would this pump actually dispense gasoline to me, trusting me to come inside and pay for it after I pumped it? It did!!! Wow!!! As ridiculous as this might sound, and as small of a thing as it might seem to be, I have to tell you, it felt glorious!!! Wonderful! It was a crumb of freedom, and it tasted great!
The experience hammered home two realities to me.
1. Freedom is glorious! Moral decay produces reductions in freedom, and subsequent reductions in glory, beauty and joy.
Because so many of our fellow citizens have stolen gasoline by filling up and driving off without paying, all of us have lost a little freedom, and glory.
2. I love freedom! The little feelings I felt reignited the flame of passion for freedom in me that I believe lies deep in the heart of every person. It re-inspired me to live for the day of ultimate freedom that is coming and to be an agent of promoting justice, freedom, truth and love in this dead and decaying world.
There is a day coming when everything wrong, oppressive, unjust, painful and broken will be made right. We ought to take great comfort in that truth. These mortal lives we're living are a battle. Truly, God gives us joy and peace even in the midst of the struggle, but there is no way to avoid the reality of the struggle. We carry the burden of the battle against all that is wrong every day of this mortal journey. What is it going to feel like when we step over into the place He has prepared for us? How amazing will "glorious freedom" feel? How exhilarating will it be to be "liberated from (our) bondage to decay"?
Romans 8:18-23 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
May you long for and live for Freedom and Glory!
The experience hammered home two realities to me.
1. Freedom is glorious! Moral decay produces reductions in freedom, and subsequent reductions in glory, beauty and joy.
Because so many of our fellow citizens have stolen gasoline by filling up and driving off without paying, all of us have lost a little freedom, and glory.
2. I love freedom! The little feelings I felt reignited the flame of passion for freedom in me that I believe lies deep in the heart of every person. It re-inspired me to live for the day of ultimate freedom that is coming and to be an agent of promoting justice, freedom, truth and love in this dead and decaying world.
There is a day coming when everything wrong, oppressive, unjust, painful and broken will be made right. We ought to take great comfort in that truth. These mortal lives we're living are a battle. Truly, God gives us joy and peace even in the midst of the struggle, but there is no way to avoid the reality of the struggle. We carry the burden of the battle against all that is wrong every day of this mortal journey. What is it going to feel like when we step over into the place He has prepared for us? How amazing will "glorious freedom" feel? How exhilarating will it be to be "liberated from (our) bondage to decay"?
Romans 8:18-23 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
May you long for and live for Freedom and Glory!
Thanks Tom.
You are so right about the country's obvious moral decay.
In the little Oklahoma town where I was born in the early 50s, when you pulled into what was then called a "service station" a uniformed attendant walked out to your car, filled your tank, aired up your tires and washed your windshield for you...then went inside and returned with your change.
It was also common practice to park in front of the drugstore or post office WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING and windows rolled down, go in and do your shopping.
At home, no one locked their front doors; if you wanted to visit someone you just knocked on the door and let yourself in, and there was just no crime at all that I can recall.
Oh, and everyone in town attended church on Sundays...
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All pressure is self-inflicted. It's what you make of it or how you let it rub off on you.
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