Exodus 19:1-4 Freedom From, Freedom In, and Freedom To

"God had redeemed His people, and was now going to claim them as His own and enter into a covenant relationship with them, just as He promised," my commentary began.

They'd left Egypt and traveled to the mountain of God, just as Moses had told Pharaoh.  Now, though, they were free of Egyptian bondage.  "If freedom doesn't lead to maturity, then we end up imprisoned in a bondage worse than what we had before; a bondage from within and not from without.  It's bad enough to be enslaved by an Egyptian taskmaster, but it's even worse to enslave YOURSELF and become you own taskmaster."

"The image of maturity that God used was that of the eagle, bearing its young on its wings and teaching them the glorious freedom of flight ... At a certain stage in the development of their young, the parent eagles break up the comfortable nest and force the eaglets to fly.  The young birds may not be anxious to leave the security of the nest, but they must learn to fly if they're going to fulfill their purposes in life.  The adult birds stay near the fledglings and, if they fall, carry them on their strong wings until the young birds learn how to use their wings, ride the air currents, and enjoy the abilities God gave them."

"The eaglets illustrate three aspects of freedom:

1)  freedom from (they are out of the nest, which to us is redemption;

2)  freedom in (they are at home in the air, which to us is maturity; and

3)  freedom to (they can fulfill their purpose in life, which to us is ministry."

"True freedom means that we're delivered from doing the bad, we're able to do the good, and we're accomplishing God's will on the earth."

"When we're maturing in the Lord, life becomes a series of open doors that lead to more and more opportunities for responsible freedom.  But if we refuse to let God mature us, life becomes a series of confining iron bars that limit us ... It took one night to take Israel out of Egypt, but forty years to take Egypt out of Israel.  How long is it taking the Lord to get us to fly, or are we nestlings who don't want to be disturbed?"

Can't add anything to that, Father!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford