07 03 08 FREE TO SERVE HIM AND OTHERS, or NOT

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4, 5) And here is the second one. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these." (Mark 12:30-31 NIrV)

Love God…love my neighbor: Jesus said these are the most important commandments given and that the Law was based upon these two premises. If we love God, we’ll obey Him. If we love our neighbor, we’ll respect him, care for him, and get along well with him. God is love and as we are made in His image, we are to reflect that love... real simple!

I wondered as I awoke from sleep this morning… “Why did the Lord wake me up today?” He is free to let me die in my sleep, remain unconscious, or awaken me. It’s His choice to grant me life and to keep me alive as He sees fit. I, on the other hand, am FREE TO SERVE HIM AND OTHERS…or NOT!

I am free to love my God and serve all my neighbors…here and around the world. I have the liberty to choose to obey His call to tell everyone about someone who can save anyone from their wretched life of slavery to sin. I have that freedom to obey, or NOT!

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
(Micah 6:8 NIV)

To act justly…love mercy...walk humbly: God has indeed given us enough examples of what that looks like. We read about it in the Bible. We have seen it in the lives of folks like Mother Teresa, Dr. Billy Graham, and others. I have seen it personally in the lives of many around me day-to-day. So I have no excuse; I am FREE TO SERVE HIM AND OTHERS, or NOT!

I have the ability and freedom to show mercy to everyone I meet, to do my best that justice is served to everyone, not just the favored of society. I have the responsibility to walk humbly among my friends, family, neighbors…even those I have yet to meet. I need to represent Christ to a dying a lost world, because we all have a choice to make.

Will we choose freedom…or slavery?
Will we choose repentance or a lifestyle of sin?
Will we choose liberty with Christ, or remain in bondage eternally?

Jesus paid the price for our freedom. What will we do with it?

FREE TO SERVE HIM AND OTHERS, or NOT! Choose today....