it all starts with abiding

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me learn to abide in you and in your word, for that is the only true path to freedom.  Amen.

Scripture: John 8:31-32

Journal: What is your sense of freedom these days?  Are you abiding in Jesus and in his word?  How are the two connected?

Reflection: The first step towards freedom is abiding.  If we ever have any hope of living a life that is whole and free, it will be because we have learned to abide in the truth.  If it is, in fact, the truth that sets us free, then we better get so familiar with the truth that it simply becomes a part of who we are.  Otherwise, we will constantly be blown around by every wind of opinion and agenda that comes along—and, believe me, there are a lot of those these days.

You see, truth is not relative, it is absolute.  If it were relative, then there would be no truth at all, only anarchy.  Jesus knew that.  And he knew the link between truth and freedom.  Contrary to popular opinion, freedom does not come from determining our own truth—which is not truth at all—but by living in line with the truth from which, and for which, we were made. 

Thus, Jesus is the truth (see John 14:6), and as we abide in him, and abide in his word, we get to know what the Truth really is.  And then truth sets us free.  But it all starts with abiding.  If I do not abide in him, and in his word, then I will never know the truth of his divine love and care and delight, and I will never experience the freedom for which I was made.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, if it all starts with abiding, then give me the grace and the strength and the discipline I need in order to do that.  For only then will I know the truth, and only then will I know the life and the freedom for which I was made.  Amen.