You Can Be Free

10 January, 2022
 
Once when a man was walking by the road, he saw a boy carrying around birds. On closer inspection, he realized that the boy had captured the birds from afar. The man asked the boy,  “Where are you taking the birds, and what do you intend to do with them?”. The boy said “I’m going to merely play with them”. The man then responded, “How are you going to play with these birds?”. The boy said “I’m going to rip off each of the bird's feathers, until it is left with no one.” To this the man responded, “What do you intend to do with these featherless birds?” Then the boy said, “I’ll feed them to my cats”. To this the man said, “I’d like to buy your birds, including the cage. How much money would you want for this?” Unsure of what to say, the boy did not respond. The man then  gave him Rs.100. The boy was delighted. The man then took the birds to a dense forest and opened its cage to free the birds. Enjoying the freedom the birds flew away.
 
When the man saw the caged birds, he felt sympathetic and sad for their plight and paid a price to redeem their freedom.
 
Just like the birds, we need mental freedom, to live a happy life devoid of brokenness and sadness.
 
Galtians 5:1 says ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery’
 
Christ gave us freedom and he urges us to stand firm in this freedom and stay firm in them. Freedom always comes with a price and many have paid its price. Look at democratic nations and you will see freedom fighters who laid down their lives for freedom. Jesus gave his own life on the cross of Calvary to ensure our freedom. He purchased our freedom with his blood.
In many of the books in the Bible, there are several rules that have been written down. One such includes following sabbath on the last day of the week. Everybody was expected to rest on that day and dedicate the day to the Lord. The Lord also said every seventh year, they were expected to dedicate themselves to the Lord and would be provided with everything that they needed for the next three years in the sixth year itself. The Lord said in the same manner 49 sabbath years must be counted and the 50th year must be celebrated as the year of jubilee.  Apart from the same things, they were expected to do on the sabbath year, on the 50th sabbath year, they were also expected to do a few more other things.
 
Leviticus 25:10 says, ‘Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.’
 
Four things will happen in the fiftieth year, there will be liberty for all the inhabitants everywhere, where each one will be returned to their family property and they to their own clan. There will be freedom to slaves in the nations who were devoid of freedom for years. All the debts would be cancelled. All the properties that were lost will be restored. Peace and the world in whole will enjoy peace. The land received rest. But remember, freedom is costly. It always costs a price and to save us, Jesus paid with his own life in the Cross of Calvary.
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