| JUNE 1, 2026 -- For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. Galatians 5:13
In God’s eyes freedom comes with responsibilities. Shortly after God gave the people of Israel freedom from slavery in Egypt, he laid upon them a series of responsibilities in the form of commandments, not only the familiar 10, but many others. The most important ones to me are: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul”; and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. In Leviticus, chapter 19 we read “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”. Psalm 82 tells us to “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” Proverbs 31 instructs us that we should “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and the needy. And do not forget those shalts and shalt nots in the ten commandments themselves, especially those concerning our relations with our fellow human beings: “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days will be lengthened upon the land that the Lord, your God, gives you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your fellow. “You shall not covet your fellow’s house: you shall not covet your fellow’s wife, or his man servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your fellow.”
Where is the freedom if we have
all those “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots”? It comes from the free will to either obey them or reject them, the freedom to argue with God about them or about God’s decisions, keeping in mind that if we obey God’s commands, either individually or collectively, our lives and society as a whole will be better off for so doing. The choice is ours, but if we choose wrongly the consequences will be our own fault. So choose wisely.
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