Fruits of Freedom and Rocky Soil

One thing I have become absolutely obsessed with is freedom. I'm not speaking of my constitutional rights or even the fact that I could truly choose to do whatever I want and go wherever I want right now. I am speaking of liberation--the absolute freedom to simply be and have joy and peace through living in the truth of God's sovereignty and work in my life. For those of you who have known me for a while, you have probably noticed that where I was once diseased with worry and stress, I now tend to live peacefully moment to moment. That where I once felt enslaved to being the best or climbing my way to the top, I am now secure in who am regardless of what my status is. That where I once suffered from chronic illness, I now enjoy pretty much perfect health. I could seriously go on and on. This is the beautiful kind of freedom I am speaking of.

Perhaps the kind of freedom I now live for and by is best described through its fruits: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, [against which]there is no law." (Gal. 5:22) It is an incredible lightness. This is the full life and bountiful harvest the bible talks about Jesus coming to bring. How indescribably beautiful!

Beautiful indeed, yet I woke up recently feeling none of those things described above. Rather than feeling light, at peace, and full of joy, I felt dark, frenzied, and swept away by the pace and the ways of the world around me. If I know the fruits of freedom as truth in my life and am free of rules, regulations, and the standards of man, how could this sinking, dark feeling overcome me?

Well God woke me up (literally) with some answers. In Mark 4, Jesus tells his disciples that God has some pretty powerful seed and we are the soil in which it grows. Like any farming/gardening goes, regardless of the quality of seed, the quality of the soil will largely determine the quality of the crop. Although I had read this parable time and again, it stopped me in my tracks. Maybe I was overcome with heaviness and distress not because God didn't have/want to share the harvest with me, but because I wasn't caring well enough for the soil. I am convinced that while we are free of law (in the sense of condemnation), it is still crucial to us because it can act as a care manual for the soil that is our lives. That what we fill our minds and bodies with, what we say, and what we do can have a huge influence on the kind of soil we grow God's seed in.

As simple as this idea is, it hit me in a big way. I realized that when it comes to God, it's not about right and wrong, do's and don'ts, or guilt and obligation. It's about the pure and beautiful reality that God has already given us the seed that can produce a harvest of our lives more fulfilling than we could imagine, but we have to do our part. No good soil. No good crop. In Christ we already have everything we will ever need for life to the full. May you keep good soil for the full life to grow bountifully in your life!