Take a moment to read Romans 6:12-23 before reading the devotional below.
If you can’t tell, I’m all about freedom. The life Jesus offers us does not begin when we get to Heaven. It starts right now. If you are a human being, you have been trapped. You have experienced being stuck or being in bondage to one type of sin or another. There’s no point in comparing sins, because all of them own us without Jesus. Today Paul is writing about how to live a free life. It starts by giving yourself completely to God.
There are few things we do “completely” anymore. Most products are made to break and be replaced, a half-job is fine if you can get away with it, and we often expect that whatever we don’t finish someone else will come along and do for us. We have gotten sloppy as a culture, so the idea of giving ourselves completely over to God may be a bit beyond our immediate comprehension. Pause and think about every aspect of your life. Family, work, money, home, community, hobbies, sports, etc. Take a minute to make a list of everything in your life. What would it mean for you to turn all that over to God?
Here’s your freedom for today: in God’s kingdom, you are free. God will never make you a slave, and you can be sure of that because throughout the Bible we are told that we have a choice. “Give yourself completely to God” is an action only you can take. He’s not going to capture you and enslave you. Satan is happy to do that and sin is his heavy chain. With God you are free to give it all or not, but if you want his life-transforming power you can only access it through total surrender. What are you holding on to today? What has a hold on you? Whatever it is, it will kill you. Take a gift of freedom from Jesus today and let go of anything you can.