So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
A familiar verse. Most of us have heard it and have an understanding of the theology behind it. Jesus died to save us. His death was a sacrificial act to free us from eternal damnation so that we might forever have life (fellowship) with him. We are set free from the power and bondage of sin/death, because those things were nailed on the cross with him. He bore it all. There is now no condemnation (Romans 8:1). We are free.
Dare I say that yes, in the big scheme of things that theology is most definitely true.
But what about the slavery we put upon ourselves?
Sometimes our understanding or our approach to our Christian faith is grounded in “tradition”. We accept consciously or unconsciously how our relationship to Jesus must be. We believe we must certainly be reverent and respectful. We pray using words of life and encouragement from hearts that are thankful and filled with grace and mercy, because its acceptable and expected. We smile and keep our emotions at bay, (or deny them entirely) when going through a storm and say, “It’s God’s will”, or “I’m learning a lesson” etc.
We hold ourselves in restraint because we cannot let others see our distress, our grief, our anger. We are slaves to our Christian community, and to ourselves. Therefore, we are not FREE.
But wait on, didn’t Jesus die to bring us freedom?
Yes, he did.
Even freedom from ourselves?
Yes indeed.
In the Emotionally Healthy series we learnt about being our true selves. It takes work. It’s hard to face, but the freedom that comes from being who God made us to be is wonderful. Those restraints your family of origin or your upbringing, or your church have put on you, can be broken.
We can be slaves to ourselves and the traditions regarding our faith, that keep us from understanding and moving into a deeper relationship with God. Jesus died so that we can be free from ourselves, and our restrictive and often wrong thinking.
God designed us with imagination. It is one of his many gifts to us. It’s not just to be used to tell stories or to use in play. If you are seeking to move into a deeper connection with the Son who came to make you free, then you can allow him to speak to you through this. You simply put yourself into a passage of scripture. You can be an observer, or a character. But the Holy Spirit will take you on a journey that will enhance your understanding and relationship with your Lord, meet your deepest need, and allow you to be free, because you are giving him permission to show you who he created you to be.
Rachel sat down with her Bible and flipped to Luke 10:38 -42, the story of Mary and Martha. She knew the story. Many sermons had been preached on these two women. Sisters genetically connected but so different in personality. However, both served. Rachel sat still and invited the Holy Spirit to lead her into the passage……….
Martha is in the kitchen. Afterall the house is full of guests and people need to be welcomed, have the dust washed from their feet, use the bathroom, and be fed. It would not do to be a poor hostess. That would bring disrepute upon the whole family. Imagine the gossip that would spread around Bethany about them. No, Martha had to save the day. She stirred things over the fire and shredded herbs that were on the table into bowls, kneaded flat bread, filled pitchers with water, and snapped at the young girls who were helping. It was hot and steamy in the kitchen, despite the windows being open to the night air. As she passed the doorway with a platter of food, she glimpsed at Mary, sitting among others at the feet of Jesus, gazing with love upon his gentle and kind face and hanging on his every word.
Martha felt anger well up from the depths of her being. How dare she, her sister, leave her alone in the kitchen on this night when the house was full. Why didn’t Mary see that Martha was struggling to see to all the guests, to meet all their needs. And, what’s more, Jesus who knows everything, didn’t seem to be aware of her struggle to serve the guests. He surely should have lent down to Mary, tapped her on the shoulder and pointed her towards the kitchen. The very least He could do was to say to her, “Go help Martha”. But he didn’t. That made her angry. Why doesn’t Jesus care, she thought. I am standing in the doorway, and he doesn’t see me. He doesn’t even know I am here! Filled with resentment she continued to place food on the table and barked at the young kitchen maids as they scurried about their tasks.
This imaginative prayer that Rachel was using was getting out of hand, surely. In it she was mad at Jesus. That can’t be right! How disrespectful and unchristian was that!
But she had asked for a deeper connection, and it had been suggested she pray herself into the Bible passage, imagining she was there, and allowing God to show her things about herself, that the Holy Spirit could deal with, so that she would be free in her relationship with Jesus.
It went against everything she knew of church and Christian traditions. It crossed the line in her thinking on so many levels, and now she was mad at Jesus.
Was that even allowed??
Rachel began to pour herself out in prayer, telling the Lord, how she felt, and why and asking for a revelation of love that she needed to be seen by Jesus amid the busyness of her serving, of her giving. She waited before God in her prayer…. And Jesus got up, he walked through the crowd of those who had gathered, who sat at his feet, and came into the kitchen. He took the platter from Martha’s hand and placed it on the table. Then he pulled her into his embrace and hugged her, and whispered into her ear, “I see you; I see all you are doing, I see your pouring out, and I am here to fill you, I am here to hold you, I am here to love you. Come and sit with me, come and be with me.” He took her by the hand and led her to where he had been sitting, he made a place for her beside him, and he kept a hand on her shoulder as he began to speak to the guests in the house.
Being able to be yourself in front of the Lord is being free. He understands completely and is ready to help with your emotions and feelings.
God uses EVERYTHING to do His work, He is not limited. He created us just as he desired and wants us to allow him to use everything we have to have a deeper connection with him, to move closer, to gain more understanding and to be real, be our true selves, raw, honest, up front and free.
That’s why he came, that’s why he died.
Carole