Last week, Robert Vick escaped from jail in Kentucky. Unfortunately for him it turned out that a record freeze was gripping the nation. After just a day out in the cold, he approached a local motel manager and said, “Call the law on me. I’ve got to turn myself in. I’m froze to death.”
Some people grow up in church thinking religion is like a prison with a bunch of rules put there to keep them from having fun. When they become adults they can’t wait to escape. What they find out is that the world outside of a relationship with God is a cold, cold place that leads nowhere but to frustrated, messed up living and hopeless dying. Christianity is not about a bunch of rule-keeping; it is about a life-giving relationship with God. Galatians 5:1 says, “It for freedom that Christ has set us free.” In Christ we are free from guilt-ridden rule-keeping religion. In Christ we are free to live in harmony and peace, abundantly and beautifully, with God, ourselves and others. Maybe it is time to turn yourself in this week, to come in from the cold, and experience the true freedom that is found only through Jesus Christ.
– Dr. Tim Thompson