Freedom - Are you really free?
Gary Waddell • Victory Ministries Middle Tennessee • June 19, 2022
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Rom 6:22).
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal 5:1).
When Japan surrendered after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, World War II came to an end. However, there was a Japanese soldier (the last) who did not come out of his hiding to surrender for almost three decades after the war ended. This man, Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, was an intelligence officer deployed to the Philippines with orders to never surrender or kill himself. They were the only Japanese soldiers who had not surrendered or died till this time. They survived on coconut milk, bananas, and stolen cattle. All this while, they continued engaging in occasional fights with the local police. In 1974 Hiroo finally was convinced to surrender as the war had ended almost 30 years prior. Lt. Hiroo Onoda had actually kept himself in bondage (and fear) the entire time by not exploring the possibility that Japan had lost its war with the world. [Photos Above - Left - Lt Onoda 1944 / Right Hiroo Onoda 1973]
The word surrender is often defined as “submit” or "to retire, or yield." Mr. Onoda finally “submitted to authority” and by doing so, he became a free individual instead of a “wanted man” or basically a man in bondage or a person enslaved to duty. After the ‘surrender’ he then moved to South America to become a farmer, as he had freedom to do so.
Let me ask you this question. Are you enslaved to this world? Perhaps by way of a job, a hobby, or duties and responsibilities? Are you really a free person in this life? Free of trouble, cares, problems and fear? OR maybe you feel you have all the world has to offer and are enjoying all the temporal things of life and you “believe you are free”. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:36). You will never be free until you submit or surrender your life to Christ. You will serve either ‘sin’ (and this world) OR the ‘risen Christ’, who is the Creator and Savior.
You cannot serve both. Real freedom is not about possessions and busy-ness or doing what you want. It is freedom from sin. Jesus said, If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (Jn 8:36). That is real freedom.
If you haven’t done so, you can ask Jesus into your heart right now and experience what real freedom in your life is about. Jesus has already paid our “sin debt” (Jn 3:16) and you can receive Him as your Lord and Savior (John 1:12). He will show you ‘real freedom’ and will change your life. Free from sin. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness (Rom 6:18).
The Bible says: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Rom 10:9).
Thanks for “Taking 5" • Gary Waddell • Victory Ministries Middle Tennessee
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