Not all aspects of God’s character shine through us with equal brilliance, but there’s one that seems
universally potent – freedom! It’s in evidence from our earliest “I’ll do it myself!”, to a longing for
summer holidays away from teachers and school classrooms, to the workers’ plaintive, ‘TGIF.’ And what
adult doesn’t remember the delicious emancipation of that first solo drive with a newly minted driving
permit? And even today, eons past the school days when my mother would adjure, “Take off your
school clothes before you go out to play,” when I come home from the office, I typically put on
something comfortable, telling Sue I’m taking off my school clothes (symbolic remnants of childhood’s
freedoms?). Adventure seekers may be the closest expression to that divine character trait, as they
typically crave wide-open spaces, unfettered opportunities, an ample serving of high risk. Or, for the less
intrepid Freemans, when driving through countryside for the first time, we may say, tongue in cheek,
and with dramatic flair, ‘Once again, going where no man has gone before!’ All these expressions point
to a much larger reality, that the One who designed us, strategically inserted a specific ‘freedom gene,’
an inescapable thirsting for more, for greater, for higher; ultimately, for Him, in Whom is found total
liberty!
But much of what God has chosen to be our destiny (ie, freedom), is susceptible to corruption, by our
collective fallenness, Satan himself, and/or the world system. If this were not the case, Jesus’ saying, “If
the Son sets you free from sin, then become a true son [daughter] and be unquestionably free!” (John
8:36, TPT) would make no sense. But as it is, our in-Jesus freedom is constantly under siege, requiring
our prayerful vigilance. And because we don’t want to miss out on one iota of God’s goodness, and
certainly not on the thrill of freedom, let’s talk more about this tomorrow at 10 AM, 4 PM, 6PM. PD
Don graduated from Regent University in 1988 and moved to France for seven years, coming back to the US briefly to marry Sue in 1990. The work in France included working in a Christian School and helping plant a church before returning in 1995. He’s been pastor of Peninsula Vineyard since 1999. He enjoys counseling, especially married couples, traveling back to France (with Sue), reading, doing Sudoku puzzles and sleuthing out good, dark chocolate. Don serves as the senior pastor of the Vineyard Church Peninsula, in Newport News, Virginia.