Wednesday, May 13, 2020

The Truth Will Set You Free - From What?

 
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
John 8:31-34

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said.  “We have never been slaves to anyone.  What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.

Our dog, Wellington the Methodist, is a prisoner each night.  He has an issue with his bladder, so his little “kennel condo” is his nighttime castle.  Each day well-before sunrise I open the little door to his kingdom and tell him, you’re FREE!  He lifts his head slightly, sniffs, and goes back to snoreing like a chain saw.  It’s the doggie version of OK…free…whatever; keep it down, please…dog trying t’ sleep here.
Those who were listening to Jesus didn’t understand the kennel they were in, either.  They didn’t get it, that there was any need for being released.  They had their heritage of being descendants of Abraham…that made everything OK with the Creator.  So, Jesus, free….from WHAT?
I’m not sure the larger part of humanity understands this any better than those who were following Jesus around.  In just about every context I hear those words, the truth shall set you free, they just sound like another platitude, a cliché flung-out to fill space by the self-proclaimed wise, so that others will know they’re in the presence of wisdom.  It’s used as a foil in a verbal fencing match to proclaim, hey, I know the real story here, and you don’t, so see my point of view and, when you know the real truth, you’ll be better off.
So, at the risk of proving my own ignorance, let me just offer that Jesus wasn’t talking about truth, as in, was it the butler or Colonel Mustard who killed Professor Plum…or freedom, as in having the right to move from point A to point B unhindered…or freedom to be a plumber, doctor, or any other vocation.  Rather,  knowing the truth is becoming a genuine disciple of He who IS the truth.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.  John 14:6

The freedom of which Jesus spoke is not a matter of having your kennel door opened, merely for the purpose of personal choice to wander about and chase squirrels or whatever else turns you on…it’s a matter of having your mind opened to what’s really important in the universe – responding well to a loving Creator who gave you life in the body, and wants to energize your soul and spirit.
For You Today
So, how is life going…I mean, with all that freedom you enjoy?  Is it kind of dependent on the CDC guidelines, or whatever the day brings?  Or do you find yourself sleeping through life like Wellington the Methodist, just waiting for whatever handout of “freedom” those in charge decide to hand down? 
One day, all the personal choices you’ve been granted constitutionally, or those, by virtue of whatever slots in life you’ve been able to carve out for yourself, have come to an end, the only question that will matter is,
did you trust He Who IS the Truth to set you free?
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!
Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on John 8 see The Truth Shall Set You Free and Failure and The Cost of Truth

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