Looking over my lesson for tonight, I realized: there are only six weeks left to share the Gospel and encourage leading a life that is worthy of God - not the world. College is a fun time for most, a stressful time for some, a definitive time for all. Going into college, or even just graduating high school, we think that ahead of us is merely freedom! (*freedom chorus resounding in the background*) And it may be true in some ways. I mean, we live in America, right? And we don't have to have the grasp of our parents over us 24/7 (it's more like 2/7 now...) and we have our first opportunity in life to really make decisions of our own; how we spend the day, bedtime, what time we wake up, who we hang out with and where and when, which classes we take and how many to skip. The list goes on. One freedom that is forgotten, yet taken advantage of is the freedom we have in Christ. His purpose for coming was not to die so that we can be forgiven and live a sinful life continuously, knowing that we shouldn't be doing half of what we do. He came to die for us to set us free from the grasp of sin - we have a choice to turn away from sin and work hard against it - even if we fail, we have the brightest light to look to for help finding our way. Unfortunately, our generation especially likes to take advantage of this. People change, not God or His Word, and to try and fit the Bible to your lifestyle is wrong. In order for the Bible to apply in your life, you must change to fit it. The freedom to live without constantly having to be asking for forgiveness is great! Read the Old Testament if you don't understand what we could be doing instead. But since Jesus came and DIED - think about that - DIED (think about family members and friends who have died and how powerful it was to see them not living in front of you) and that is what Christ did for us so that we could live our lives walking beside God, learning His Will, and asking Him to refine us from all the things in our life that corrpt us and all of our wrongdoing. Just because we are saved by Jesus, doesn't mean we should take advantage of it and live constantly in a sin that we know we can avoid.
Coming up in the United States is the Fourth of July celebration - also known as Independence Day. Although it is the commemoration of the day our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence, remember the independence you have from sin and doing wrong things that are against God. You have the freedom to decide to live in sin and to turn away from it with perseverence. I know, that's a bit cliche to bring up Independence Day and freedom in God, but remember the true God-given gift you have in front of you. How you choose to honor it is important. Spending time with God in His Word that never changes is a good beginning to understanding what you can do to discover the wonder of Him more than you have before. What does God really stand for? How have you been standing for the world? James 4:4 says that anyone who is a friend of the world, by accepting and embracing the sins and ways of the world, is an enemy of God. Don't take advantage of this freedom you have in a poor way, but take advantage of it in a way that makes you more like Christ from the inside out, and celebrate the freedom you have because of Him who loved us first.
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