Today’s 333 Devotional: “The Commandments Bring Freedom”

Some people see God’s commandments as burdensome because they see them as restrictions to freedom, but in reality, they provide the boundaries we need to live in freedom.

Let’s say we’re walking down a path and it says, “Cliff ahead, go no further.” Yes, it’s restrictive, but only if you believe freedom is falling several hundred feet down a cliff. You might say this sign is a good boundary in keeping you alive.

God’s commandments are good boundaries. You may know the need for boundaries, but you feel that the “Thou Shall Not” statements come off a little bit too strong. But let’s say your three-year-old is running towards the cliff you’ve been warned about. What are you going to do? Would you calmly say, “Precious child, please come back so we can have a session on values clarification?” No! You’d yell at the top of your lungs, “Stop.”

That’s what God is doing through the commandments. He knows the danger that lies ahead when we disregard His word and live life according to our standards rather than His.

Living a life of obedience to God’s commands leads to freedom. Consider the many things that were created to live in the water, and if they stayed within the boundaries of their creation, they’d experience true freedom. A fish left outside of the water would die, but in the water, it is alive and free to swim to its heart content.

Freedom comes from honoring the restrictions and boundaries that correlate with how God designed us. The commandments allow us to live within those boundaries and to experience true freedom.

The Bible says, “I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.” (Psalm 119:45)

And our greatest freedom is brought through the commandments.

“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” (Galatians 3:24-25)