Freedom.  It seems everyone wants to be free yet we often struggle to even admit when we are not.  When Jesus stated that holding to His teachings would lead people to know the truth that would set them free, the religious leaders bristled at even the hint that they had ever been slaves to anyone or anything.  Over the next 28 days I will be sharing the daily devotions from the book, “Living Free”, that I wrote several years ago to help you discover a life of freedom found through a consistent gazing into, and practice of, the perfect law of God’s Word.

Here is day five with an important reminder that living free in Christ means that you, and those around you, can live free from the weight of your burdens.

Free From Burdens

“He says, “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.“
Psalm 81:6-7 (NIV)

What are some things that tend to weigh you down to the point of becoming burdens physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually?  How often do you find the burdens in one area of your life intruding into other areas that you thought were burden-free?  Do you ever find yourself carrying burdens and concerns that you wouldn’t need to?  How often do you gaze into God’s perfect law looking for freedom from the burdens you carry?

Burdens can be sneaky things.  Many times we don’t realize the true weight of the burdens we carry until they are gone . . . or until we collapse under them.  Other times we become resigned to carrying our burdens as if nothing could ever lift them from us.  Many times in my life, the burdens I have carried the longest have been burdens that I have kept even after knowing God has offered to carry them for me.  Gazing into God’s perfect law does give freedom, but only if we are willing to cast our burdens upon Him.  As you pray, ask God to give you freedom from the burdens that you carry.  Pray that you would know God’s laws to be a means of freedom and not burdensome.

In prayer,

Tom