Today’s Scripture Reading
John 8:32,36.
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
As we celebrate our 250th year of independence and freedom in this country, let us contemplate where that desire for freedom ultimately comes from and where it is ultimately satisfied. Our country was founded on the premise that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights.
We are familiar with how the Declaration of Independence reads. God provided our forefathers with an alternative to the oppression and tyranny they were suffering. But in John’s gospel, we see that God really wants us to have ultimate freedom that comes from the promise of Jesus. He says that freedom is founded in the truth of His love for us, ultimately displayed at the cross. That’s where He gave us freedom from the slavery of sin and death. God applied His stamp of approval by the miraculous resurrection of His son.
That same freedom empowers us to serve these people on this mission and glorify God. We have the privilege to be a conduit of God’s hope and healing for the people of Guatemala as they pray to be free of pain and suffering.
But we are always reminded to see the order of things. The Israelites were freed from slavery, and then the 10 Commandments were given. And then Paul, in his familiar passage in Ephesians 2:8-10, reminds us that the truth of God’s saving Grace always empowers and proceeds good works in obedience. May we continue in this same truth of freedom in the mission of Faith in Practice.
Blessings
Dr. Mark Woolf
