Use Your Freedom To Serve

Galatians 5:13

ESV

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

This verse speaks a lot in conjunction with a verse I read today. God has put on my heart to begin getting up an hour earlier with Proverbs 20:13. “Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.” I surely have the freedom to sleep until 6, plus the occasional few extra minutes. However, God has convicted me that in this season of life that I’ll never get again, I should be taking advantage of all the time that's available. Sleeping in does have its advantages, but also has its disadvantages. For me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Learning discipline, commitment, perseverance, and relying on the Lord for my strength will be invaluable in future seasons. Plus, theres nothing like the stillness and quiet of being awake before the birds even chirp. I seek to use the extra time to, obviously, grow my relationship with Jesus.

Secondly, the fact that we were called to freedom is another display of Gods love for us. He called me from heaven itself, and speaks every day from heaven. While I was still a sinner, Christ died for my freedom. And even more, when I knew of what Jesus did for me, I continued to sin. There were times where I would try to take advantage of Gods grace and use it as an excuse to sin. To use the freedom to try to get what I wanted, which always wound up never being enough. But, then God called me higher. He sent me here to IGNITE, to turn off the noise and to transform me into someone who knows the freedom and grace but no longer takes advantage of it. The more God reveals about Himself, the more I want to please Him and worship Him and be thankful for everything He gives me, big or small.