There is a saying that we owe our liberty to Jesus and the soldier. The fourth of July celebrates our liberty from England. I want to celebrate my liberty as a servant of Christ.

Reading the notes in my Harper’s Study Bible I came across this comment upon Galatians 5:1. “…Liberty brings believers by voluntary choice into total submission to Jesus Christ and His will for us. The grand paradox of Scripture is that those who are slaves of Jesus Christ have the greatest freedom.” Yeah and amen!!

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1 NIV

Andrew Murray wrote Absolute Surrender. It is what I desire with God. Here is one excerpt from Murray.

“Oh, I want to encourage you, and I want you to cast away every fear. Come with that feeble desire; and if there is the fear which says: “Oh, my desire is not strong enough, I am not willing for everything that may come, I do not feel bold enough to say I can conquer everything”—I pray you, learn to know and trust your God now. Say: “My God, I am willing that Thou should make me willing.” If there is anything holding you back, or any sacrifice you are afraid of making, come to God now, and prove how gracious your God is, and be not afraid that He will command from you what He will not bestow.“

Murray, A. (1897). Absolute Surrender (p. 9). New York; Chicago; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell Company.

It has been proven by the experience of Christians over centuries that those who are slaves to Christ are free from the oppressive power of men. Try as they might, the German soldiers under Hitler could not break the spirit of Corrie ten Boom. Those who trust in God as their Master are not broken by men.

Viktor Frankl wrote about that, too, in Man’s Search for Meaning “Everything can be taken from a man but one last thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Molly, for one, has chosen to live by the ways of Christ. Isa 55: 8-9 says,

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher that Your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Yes, we are different than our God, but we are to seek for Him. He promises in Jeremiah –

You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

My attempt at Absolute Surrender is made possible by the efforts of God. He puts His desire in my heart. He supplies me with strength and determination to pursue His will. He helps me to choose my attitude from His word and His will for me. I pray, Lord, help me to pursue You and grant me liberty in any place, any time, any circumstance. Amen.

Won’t you pursue this Absolute Surrender as the way to eternal liberty with me?