Christ has set us free

 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. (Galatians 5:1)

We humans have come to count on many things that are temporary, haven't we? Our health, bank account balance, retirement funds, the weather, our job - the list goes on. We might think all will go 'as planned' but when something we are 'counting on' doesn't abide by the plan, we panic, don't we? We have become more dependent on those temporary things than we are on God.

Christ has set us free, not to serve any other master in our lives, but to enter into deep and personal connection with him. When we place our trust in him, we aren't just getting 'fire insurance' that keeps us out of hell, we are receiving a fully pardoned life of freedom. That doesn't mean we become entangled again with all those things that held us captive before, or that we turn again to all those temporary things we trusted in at one time. 

As we may see from our passage, it is our responsibility to 'stay free'. That implies there is a very real desire to 'return again' to those things or activities that we trusted in so much before. It exists in each of us. We might want to be free from them but find our focus continually returns toward those things. Whatever we focus on the most will be what we also come to trust in the most. 

No good work ever brought us into right relationship with Jesus. No earthly effort ever kept us away from sin. We need to remember our freedom was all his doing. To retain that freedom, we must maintain our focus on him and his work in our lives. There is nothing that can replace that connection - so we must work to maintain it. Just sayin!