The Purpose of Freedom (II):

 “And you shall say to him, the Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness;’ but indeed, until now you would not hear!” (Exodus 7:16, New King James Version).

This is the key Bible verse for the “Come and See” devotional today.

We have learned from the first part of this message about the purpose of freedom. The deliverance from bondage of the children of Israel remains one of the most remarkable events in the history of mankind. It showed the extent to which God will go to ensure that His people are at liberty. God always frees us from captivity for one reason only: to serve Him.

Let us consider the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of His birth was to free mankind from sin and its consequences. In his message to the Virgin Mary, Angel Gabriel said: “and she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, New King James Version).  There was no ambiguity concerning His purpose during His earthly life and He went about releasing people kept in captivity by the devil. The Bible, in John 5, refers to one instance when Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bethesda; he had suffered from an infirmity for thirty-eight years.

This man had no doubt about the purpose of his newly gained freedom from suffering and realised that he no longer had any excuse to prevent him from serving God. The Bible states: “later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’” (John 5:14, New International Version). After being freed from his infirmity, the first thing he did was to move to the temple where everyone could see that he had been cured. He began to tell everyone about what the Lord had done for him.

He knew the purpose of his freedom was to serve God. When he became free he must have been very poor because he had not worked for more than thirty-eight years. Although he was not yet free from poverty, he was now physically fit and could serve in the temple of God. He did not have to delay since service was the purpose of his existence. No wonder Jesus Christ said: “no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24, New International Version). This reading suggests that we are either serving God or we are drifting away from God and His purpose.

We need to examine our lives carefully and make sure we do not drift away from God. Ask yourselves whether you are serving God in the area where you currently enjoy freedom. Your intelligence, freedom of mobility, sight, speech, economic liberty and time should be used to serve God alone. He deserves ALL the praise and worship.

Let us pray: “Father, let my freedom be complete. Help me not to deviate from the purpose of my liberty,” in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

This message was brought to you by Evangelical Ministries International (EMI). We know this message has been a blessing to you. Please share your testimonies with us by visiting our website www.evangelicalministries.org or contact us on info@evangelicalministries.org. God bless you!