Freedom! 
What a word.
What a concept.

Here are a few definitions: the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint; absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government; the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.

Yesterday my husband got into a discussion with someone about the freedom that people should have to live out their beliefs without government involvement. This someone used her freedom of speech to disrespect my husband, accuse him wrongly and vomit all sorts of vulgarities his direction as he respectfully shared his opinion. 

Freedom can be tricky.
On one hand it can set someone free. On the other hand it can bind someone who is defending it.
On one hand it can deliver your soul. On the other hand it can ensnare you as you push its limits.

Freedom is a gift.
It can be received with thanks or abused and taken advantage of.
It can come costly or be disregarded with apathy.

It’s all for nothing if you don’t have freedom.
~ William Wallace,Braveheart (1995).

You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom.
~ William Wallace, Braveheart (1995).

Think about the position you are in. It is a position to usher in freedom to those around you.
Whether it be defending those who are stuck or setting slaves free. 

We were tied-up, trapped and bound- slaves to sin, mastered by darkness.
Then the Freedom Bearer came and lived in subjection to the Father that we might be set free.

Shackles, loosed.
Chains, broken
Jail cell, vacant.

This ultimate freedom came at a high cost. You can decide to embrace it or disregard it; it is your choice. That is your free will. It is not forced but it is fierce. 

A fierce love sent to release you from the depths of destruction.
A fiery compassion burns to deliver you from the dark.

The Mighty Savior laid aside His rights, His position, His privilege, so that you can be free.
If you choose to be.

I have heard it said that it feels like freedom to not be under the “do’s” and “don’ts” of Christianity.
But, friend, let me tell you, and me, loud and clear, that weight is called legalism. 
But we are no longer under law, but under grace. Not so that we disregard His ways, but so that we live, free in the boundaries of His limitless love (see Romans 6, The Message).
True Freedom comes with the wings of both Grace and Truth, soaring with the Spirit.

We obey because we love.
He guides because He knows best.
We are free because He was bound.

May we be messengers of this real freedom. 
Regardless of changes in our country, may “FREEDOM!” of souls be our battle cry.