Day 25
Freedom Compels Us to Reach Out
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17
Several years ago, in the unlikely town of Fulton, Missouri, the town fathers directed huge chunks of concrete to be hauled onto the local college campus. They knew there would be no better backdrop for a historic speech to be given in their little city. As chunks of concrete go, they weren’t particularly attractive. In fact, they were pitted, scarred by blows, and smeared with graffiti. But to those who saw them, carefully situated behind a podium on the broad green campus lawn, they were beautiful.
The speech was by Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the former Soviet Union, in commemoration of another speech given decades before in that same place by Sir Winston Churchill. In that earlier speech – on the same campus, behind the same podium – Churchill coined the phrase “Iron Curtain” to describe the conditions in Eastern Europe.
Half a century later, an ex-Soviet strongman stood at the microphone to talk about freedom… against a backdrop of large chunks from a fallen Berlin Wall, the actual remnants of that once-daunted “Iron Curtain.” What a visual of freedom.
Freedom. Such a wonderful word. Here in the U.S., we are blessed with a measure of freedom that is remarkable in the annals of modern history. Yet this social freedom pales in comparison with the spiritual freedom we know and experience in Jesus Christ. In Him, we have been liberated eternally. And, because of the freedom He has given us, we are motivated to commit wholeheartedly and unreservedly to Him.
As we seek God in this spiritual journey, we ensure the message of freedom in Jesus Christ continues to go forth from this place. It is because we are free that we must do everything possible to spread the message of freedom to our community and beyond.
Prayer Focus: What are some practical ways you can share the joy and reality of your freedom with others? To go deeper in our walks, we must not forget the lives within driving distance of our church that need that freedom in Jesus too. It’s because we’re free that we can go and reach out to our community and invite them into a walk with Christ as well!
What is one practical way you can reach out to someone today… right now? They need the freedom you have! What will you do? Send an email? Make a call? Write a letter? Pay a visit? Do something today to reach OUT!
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