A Call to Freedom

Scripture tells us, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). I have been giving a lot of thought to this truth as of late. God is calling us to walk in a relationship with Him that is reflective of the parent/child relationship. Obviously, this is not a call to immaturity, but a call to trust. We are to trust our God like a child trusts his or her parent. If we can really lay hold of this, it will dramatically impact our lives.

Children do not worry about paying house notes or rent. I assume they know that they get paid, but it is not their burden. Children are not fretting about whether or not the bills are going to get paid, they just trust that they will get paid. Children do not spend a lot of time fretting over family dynamics, they just live in their own little joyous world.

It seems that God is calling us to trust Him in a way that leads to dependence. Yes, we have a house note or rent, but we must trust that He will provide. Of course we have bills, but we must trust that He will provide for those as well. Anyone who has lived more than a few years knows that family and relationship dynamics can be complex, but we must trust that God will move in His time and His way when these become strained.

The call of Christ is not a call to ignorance or oblivion, but a call to faith. It is not that we are unaware of responsibility or complications, but that we are to walk in freedom in spite of these things. When the weight of life really begins to bear down on us, we should be able to step back and say to our Heavenly Father, I trust you. I do not know how or when this will work out, but I trust that it will and that it will be according to your plan.

If you hang around the church or Christians very long you will hear a lot of trust talk. The question for those of us who claim to be Christ followers is this; do we truly trust? That is not a question that I want to answer many times. However, we must recognize that the call of Christ is a call to freedom. Not just a freedom from sin, but a freedom from fear, worry, and uncertainty. Let’s make it our goal today to walk in childlike faith.

Honored to be your pastor,

Darrell