Day 54 - Issue 43

Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Colossians 1:13-14

'God has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.'

The apostle Paul was absolutely clear that when someone becomes a Christian, their whole life changes completely. We move to a new country! The kingdom of darkness is now behind us and we have entered the kingdom of light with Jesus Christ standing at the centre of it. In that new country, we experience freedom for the first time in our life, having been set free from all those things that conspire to enslave us.

Slavery was a normal everyday part of Roman society and Paul often spoke of life before becoming a Christian as being like a form of spiritual slavery. Without Christ we are slaves to our own selfish will and passions, all of which are ultimately destructive. But Christ has made it possible for us to be set free. Under Roman law it was possible for a slave to be freed from slavery. It was a process called manumission and one of the ways of achieving it was for the slave to pay his master compensation. This was obviously rarely possible for a slave, but in our case we have been set free from slavery by God himself paying the price for our freedom. When Jesus died on the cross, the price (which we would never have been able to afford) was paid for us.

Everyone wants freedom. If you have ever had your freedom limited by illness, addiction or imprisonment you will know what it means to have a deep longing to be free. On many occasions I have visited people in prison. I’ve always been amazed by the numbers of locked doors I had to pass through before meeting a prisoner. Every prisoner I have ever met longs for freedom and is eager to talk about what they will do when they are released. We all want freedom – and that is what Jesus came to give us. He came to set us free from our slavery to sin so we could enjoy the sweet taste of freedom.

Question: In what way has Jesus set you free?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank you that you came into this world to give me freedom. I confess that I have often gone my own way, and ask you to forgive me and set me free. Amen