A Roadmap To Freedom

I asked a question of a friend today and I unintentionally ruffled some feathers. I certainly didn’t mean to – it was an honest question that I had not considered for some time; I asked whether American’s were still prohibited from travelling to certain countries - I particularly had Cuba in mind. The question, I believe was misinterpreted, which is a reflection of my fingers moving ahead of the pace of my brain. So my most sincere apology is offered at my breach of entente cordiale!

We Brits aren't noted for our fondness for rules and regulations. And anything that even hints of restraints on our freedoms engenders instant hostility and opposition.

We’re not alone in this aversion to being told what to do and how to live, no matter how gently or wisely it is done. I could only imagine the uproar if the Foreign & Commonwealth Office were to tell us that we were not ‘permitted’ to go wherever we jolly well please. They’re certainly good at advising us, and rightly so, but there’s no doubt a British National is probably sitting in about every corner of our great planet right now. And historically, I have not forgotten that America’s birth came as a result of our forefathers' attempts to control and regulate the people.

Nor did Jesus come to impose another set of rules, but to help us understand that there's only one way of living that really works. There’s only one way of living that will fill all our hearts’ desires by putting us at peace with God and one another. But, no matter what Jesus said or how He said it, far too many of His listeners resisted Him. If He said ‘black,’ they’d say ‘white,’ and the sniping was continual.

In Isaiah, the Lord pleads with us: ‘If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river.’ God’s commandments aren’t a kind of arbitrary obstacle course that we have to survive in order to arrive at the Promised Land. They simply tell us how to live if we want to be happy and live in peace.

The commandments are God’s gift to us. They have in them an inner truth, and they give us a roadmap to true freedom.

Oh, if we could only listen to that inner truth, find a deeper wisdom, and be set free!

.
Our Father, grant to us peace in this coming week. Throughout the day reveal Your will to us. And teach us to treat all that comes to us with peace of soul and love in our hearts. In unforeseen events, let us not forget that all are sent by You. Amen