The Truth Will Set You Free
Scripture: John 8:31-38 (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)
31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” 34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. 37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.” (John 8:31–38 NLT)
The Truth Will Set You Free! One of the most-quoted statements of Jesus. But in our knowledge-oriented world, we so often make the wrong assumption that it’s enough to merely know stuff! Jesus said in the preceding verse that we are his disciples not by hearing and knowing only but by hearing and doing the truth. He also has a very good story to emphasize this truth in Matthew 7:21-29. Feel free to click over there and check it out.
I’m afraid there’s a lot of stuff I know that I’m not doing. How about you? The stuff we know we “should do” but don’t do, isn’t setting us free. It’s just making us feel guilty for not keeping up with the “should do’s!” Or it may be causing us to make excuses for why we’re not doing the truth we know or making us compare ourselves with others who, in our opinion, aren’t doing as well as we are. In any case, the truth we know but don’t put into practice isn’t building our foundation to face life’s storms and it isn’t making us free. It’s just making us miserable!
Friends, I realize that these devotionals I write every day aren’t always the most inspiring and “warm fuzzy” things you’ve ever read. I know that. But that’s not how I’m wired to approach the words of Jesus. This Journey of Discovery through Matthew’s Gospel and now John’s Gospel is about Knowing the Truth in such a clear and practical way that we can actually put it into practice. And that in “doing” the Truth it will actually set us free. Are you with me?! We can do this!
Prayer:
Father, Thank you for the Truth That Sets Us Free! By your grace we will be “doers” and not merely “knowers.” Please change us to be like Jesus. Truly set us free! Amen!