True Freedom (John 8:31-47)

Today's scripture: John 8:31-47

These are pretty heavy verses, full of both encouragement and conviction.

The encouragement is that those of us who follow Christ are free. Free from sin. Free from death. Free from the snares of the enemy. And one day, we will be free from pain, from sorrow, from tears (Revelation 21:4).

Now the conviction: We're either free from sin or slaves to it. And if we're slaves to sin, we serve the enemy of Christ: Satan himself. Satan is, as Jesus says, "a liar and the father of lies." He wants nothing more than to pull people away from truth. While he is not omnipresent or omniscient, he does have a legion of minions to do his bidding. He prowls about like a "roaring lion" spreading His lies and seeks to "devour" as many souls as he can (1 Peter 5:8).

This world is his battleground, and he's using whatever he can to devour those souls. Lies about what brings true pleasure. Lies about eternity. Lies about God.

I teach freshman English at a secular college, and it's tragic to hear how so many young people are buying into the lie that there is no god—at all. Live and let live, they think. Do what you want as long as no one gets hurt, they say. We're all going to be worm food one day anyway, so it really doesn't matter.

Life has no meaning, no purpose. So they fill themselves with substances or try to find fulfillment in other people.

And the enemy chortles with glee that his lies are believed.

We who follow Christ are free, yes. But we have a job to do. We need to be truth-tellers. We need to be on guard against the enemy's lies. We need to share God's truth with as many as we can, showing how God provides true freedom.

The truth, indeed, will set everyone free.