TRUE FREEDOM
In the book of Judges, Samson was born to be dedicated to God. His life was to be that of a Nazarite, separate from others for God’s service (Numbers 6:1-8). But, even though God was with him from his youth (Judges 13:24-25), Samson did things his way and, as a result, got himself into a number of entanglements that would have been avoided had he maintained his proper relationship with God. Samson, however, wanted the freedom to do his own thing and follow his lusts and his desires without accepting the responsibility that had initially been given to him.
In spite of his repeated failures, and his continued insistence in his freedom rather than adhering to what God had put before him, God repeatedly came to his assistance. God rescued him from his troubles similarly to how He continued to extricate Israel from repeated problems when that country fell back into doing things their way instead of following what God had decreed.
God eventually left Samson for a while due to his continued insistence in his freedom to do things his way and when that happened, Samson, at last, fell victim to his own desires and to his enemies. In his insistence on maintaining his freedom, he actually fell into the most bitter form of slavery. Just as God had removed Himself from Israel during their times of complete disobedience, God had, for a period, also removed His presence from Samson.
The Bible states that God has indicated that He would never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), but that doesn’t mean that He won’t stand aside and let us get into trouble by doing things our way if we really insist on doing so. If we forsake Him and take the freedom to get into trouble, then He won’t stop us and may, for a period, forsake us. The Spirit of God warned Asa about this when He said: “Hear me, Asa. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2).
We should never want to be forsaken or separated from God. That is the reason true freedom does not mean just doing what we may want but doing what is needed in the context of our responsibility as Christians. True freedom actually implies and maintains the concepts of God’s instruction. It always comes with accountability and the responsibility to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31) in accordance with the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).
If we accept this, then we may well escape the type of false freedom and subsequent slavery that befell Samson and appreciate the true freedom that he might have enjoyed had he followed God’s instruction. In fact, if the world would follow the same, we would all have greater experience of true freedom and much less fear of man’s so called freedom which leads to anguish, conflict, and confrontation in so many instances.
This is the full meaning of what God intends when the Bible says: “…if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). That is true freedom, and really something to think about.
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