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The Freedom Trail from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

One morning when Jesus was teaching in the temple, the scribes and Pharisees were trying to trap Him in His words. They often tried to trap Jesus in no-win scenarios, but He was living wisdom. Once, they asked Him if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not (Matthew 22:17). If He said yes, He would become an enemy of the Jews and be viewed as siding against God. If He said no, then He would be siding against Caesar and the Roman empire. So He asked them to show Him a coin. It bore the image of Caesar. So He told them, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

This particular morning, they brought before Him a woman they said they had caught in the act of adultery. Then they asked Him if they should stone her. It was another trap. If He said yes, the Romans would arrest Him because the Jews had no legal right to execute anyone. If He said no, He was teaching others to break the Mosaic law, and they may even stone Him. So Jesus said nothing. He stooped down and drew on the ground with His finger. We don't know what Jesus wrote, but all her accusers left. Then Jesus told the woman that He didn't condemn her either, but to go and sin no more.

Afterward, Jesus continued on with His teaching and told the people who believed in Him this:

(John 8:31–32 NKJV)  ..."If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

As in many scriptures, we see the promise of freedom bracketed in an "if" statement. If you do this, then I will do that. In this verse, the keywords we need to understand would be, "abide in My word, disciples, truth, and free" in that order. So let's look closely at those:

* Abide in My Word: means we study God's written Word, the logos (Bible), learn it and obey it.

* Disciple: means student or learner. In Christianity, it means someone who learns and follows the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

* Truth: Jesus put it like this: (John 17:17–20 NKJV) Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;."

* Free: To set free. To be liberated from captivity.

When we put all that together, the freedom trail is through learning the Word of God and obeying it. You follow the little red line, or in this case red letters, and you go free. Line upon line. Here a little, there a little. We glean something from the Word, begin to obey it, and we become a little freer. We are a work in progress, and the Lord literally changes us from the inside out.

There is no shortcut or microwave method; our freedom simply follows our obedience. When we submit to God, then resist temptation, the evil spirit will leave to find an easier target:

(James 4:7 NKJV)  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

The opposite is also true: Disobedience leads to even deeper bondage. Consider the life of Samson, an amazingly gifted man with super strength, who could kill 1,000 philistines with a jawbone of a donkey. He had such amazing potential but met such an unfortunate end. When the Lord gave him great victories, he celebrated by visiting prostitutes. Samson grew more and more worldly until Delilah betrayed him to the Philistines:

(Judges 16:20–21 NKJV)  And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

He didn't know that the Lord had departed from him because of his latest disobedience. So the mighty Samson, blind in more ways than one, died in a philistine prison. Having great potential does not mean that you will fulfill it if you never get your flesh under control. I know many people traveling down Samson's road.

Too many of us strut around like we are taking off our armor after a great battle, when we haven't even put it on yet. His Word washes us, cleanses and sanctifies us, as we learn and obey it. The Apostle Paul wrote this:

(Ephesians 5:25–27 NKJV)  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

We are living during an incredible time of technological advances. We have a space station. Yet, we haven't seen such ignorance of the Word of God since the dark ages. Most people you meet, if they even have a Bible, don't study it. How will you go free if you don't apply His Word to your life? Are you waiting on Him to do it for you? He won't. Jesus said it this way:

(John 14:15–17 NKJV)  "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Again, we see an "if", and this time it's to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we keep His commandments, He will send us another Helper. One of the disciples asked Jesus about this:

(John 14:22–24 NKJV)  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.

The Bible doesn't have to be mysterious and confusing. You don't have to understand even a tenth of what you read. That's ok, for as you read or listen, something will jump out at you about it. A truth you didn't see before. That's the little bit you hold onto, and you layer it on what you already have. To he that has, more will be given (Luke 19:26).

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please teach me the things I need to know. I want more of You, Lord. Cleanse me, and set me free from bondage. I give my heart to You. Completely deliver me from the enemy's grasp. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!