TODAY’S SCRIPTURE John 8:32
“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” As he quoted these words on August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King concluded his speech calling for racial equality and freedom. Today, we do not know firsthand the humiliation of not being allowed to eat a meal in a restaurant with others, having to sit the on back seat of a bus, attending a segregated public school, or worse, being the property of another. While we still have mountains to climb regarding equal treatment of all people, since 1963 we have made great strides. The journey will continue only as we acknowledge the truth that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26).
The truth always sets people free! It may be freedom from punishment by others or freedom from consequences of our own actions. Whether one is being truthful with his spouse, his parents, his teachers, or law enforcement officers, dealing truthfully is always the desired course of action.
Nowhere is freedom more precious than the freedom from sin offered by Jesus to those who faithfully obey His will! Peter says that through Christ we can receive “forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38). John says that Jesus’ blood “cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Paul says, “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Clearly, in order to “be set free” by the truth, one must know the truth. And knowing the truth requires both awareness and acceptance. One becomes aware of the truth through the study of the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16), and he accepts that truth by “doing the will of the Lord” (Matthew 7:21).
Today, I will…pray asking God to help me to know, live by, share, and enjoy the freedom that results from truth.