 |
|
| Volume 24 Number 9 September 2022 |
Page 11 |
|
|
| Volume 24 Number 9 September 2022 |
Page 11 |
George McNulty
Imagine a world with absolute freedom. There would be no laws to protect us from each other’s excesses – no privacy or guaranteed ownership of property. Family units would consist of anything and everything you could possibly imagine. It does not take much imagination to see that a world of absolute freedom is a world that is a nightmare of chaos.
In the United States, we have the Constitution, and within it, established rights are for all of its citizens. Among those rights are the right to life, the right to pursue happiness and the right to worship or not to worship as we so desire. The law of the land also gives us privileges that we can earn, such as driving – although some think that driving is a constitutional right, which it is not. This is not a contradiction to the freedoms that we have in the Constitution, the point being that freedom only has meaning and real value if it is the same for you as it is for me.
The world’s idea of freedom is do as you want, and the consequences for others are of little importance, as long as you are happy. Please note “do as thou wilt” is also the supreme commandment of Satanism. In Proverbs 4:14, we are advised to, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men” (KJV). David wrote in Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Today, we hear the council of the wicked praised, the way of sinners applauded and the scornful treated with honor. The politically correct world defines freedom as something that takes equality for all away and replaces it with special rights for those who complain the loudest. This is not freedom; this is an aristocracy of ungodly sinfulness – a prideful defiance of the laws of God and respect for decency.
This is a far cry from the civilization of care that Christ sought to establish upon earth. He said, in praying to the Father and instructing His followers, “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). We have a role in God’s will being done on earth. Jesus told us to “love one another” (John 15:12). In fact, in John 15:17, He bound it as a commandment. Try, if you will, to find the selfishness praised by the world in that command of Christ! There is no room for selfishness in the heart of a true Christian. The world would dispense with Christ and declare it to be free. Then, this world would be one of sadness and misery for the victims of the so-called liberated.
Contrast this with the freedom found in the paradise garden that was Eden, the first home of humanity – our ancestral homeland now lost. There, man had freedom from sin; he dwelled in peace and unity with God and the rest of His creation – a place of beauty unsurpassed since and longed-for in our songs and dreams. Freedom like this takes into consideration others, especially God. The Hebrew word for “Eden” illustrates for us the nature of the place it was. “Eden” means a “walled garden”; so, it was a place of safety protected by limitations. These limits were put in place for man’s benefit. Not satisfied with God’s rule, man disobeyed and lost everything, including spiritual and physical immortality. In his haste to overstep our freedom in God, man also lost his overlordship of the earth to the very one who deceived our first family. How tragic, how foolish and how often since have we done this!
God, in His mercy, granted human beings (in the old dispensation) His Ten Commandments, designed to define freedom and make that freedom fair for all. However, man took that law and amended it, twisted it or simply ignored it. Christ, then, gave us His divine laws for freedom for the human race.
The freedom in Christ that is offered in His commandments brings peace with God and our fellow human beings in this life and eternity with Him in Heaven. Dwelling in contentment with the Lord and living in accordance with His laws brings about a revolution of practical love. The rights given by grace are unchangeable and are only acquired by obedience to the Gospel. Christ’s kingdom is available to all who seek to receive it and to do as required to enter it. John 3:16-17 tells us who may enter and Acts 2:38 explains how we can belong to that eternal country. The relationship with God that we had in Eden is restored through Christ Jesus our Lord. Come find true freedom and real equality at the throne of the King of Kings.
Ask, Seek and It
Shall Be Given to You
Cliff Holmes
Jesus taught a short lesson on prayer in Matthew 7:7-11.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (NKJV)
Not a day goes by without the need for help from our Heavenly Father. We struggle with difficulties everywhere we turn as we live in this world. We have health problems, money troubles, family difficulties, spiritual challenges, security issues, etc. We often do all we can do and see no way to resolve the problems. Jesus taught us that God will help His children. We can ask, seek and knock, and God will answer our requests. God will provide what is best for us every time. He knows what we need better than we ourselves know. What a blessing to know that we need only to ask to receive the impossible, to seek and find the unfindable or knock and the door of relief, rescue and safety opens. We cannot visualize the solution in any of these troubled situations, and God delivers. What a blessing! God’s love for His children exceeds any love we can imagine.
Are you a child of God? Can you ask, seek and knock when you need powerful help? Jesus died to make it possible for us to be children of God. The path to God is through belief, repentance, confession, baptism and faithful service. Why would any person reject the blessing of answered prayer?