Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
From John 8:28-32, we have been rejoicing in the fact that Jesus sets His people free. Unfortunately, too many people today think of freedom in strictly selfish terms; to them, freedom is simply doing whatever they want to do whenever they choose to do it. The astute Christian recognizes that this mindset is merely a manifestation of the manacles of sin and Satan. Galations 5:13 states, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” This verse tells us two basic truths about freedom. First, anything that leads to sin (“the flesh”) is not freedom; rather, it is slavery. Second, true freedom is found in helping others, not in insisting on our own selfish, stubborn way. It is quite easy to evaluate our behavior based on these two simple principles. Of course, this kind of freedom begins with our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).