joy eats

our community group watched the third session of Exposing the Matrix by andy stanley on freedom, and it really hit home for me. often times, i think of god as a strict asian father; no this, no that and it’s all about rules and what not to do. even though mentally i know it’s not true, but it sure could feel like that when god closes doors/keep distance from the things i think is good. andy stanley started the sermon by pointing out that our god is actually all about freedom and not rules. from the beginning, in genesis, after god created man and woman he gave them only ONE rule that is to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. he gave that rule because he wanted to give man the freedom to choose to obey or disobey, and also to establish his authority over man. other than that one rule, adam and eve could enjoy anything and everything in the garden of eden. but later when adam and eve decided to disobey god they lost all the freedom that was there before. it was sin that caused men to loose freedom; they lost an intimate relationship with god and with one another and they are not free of shame and guilt after that . but it wasn’t god who took the freedom away, but sin.

later on in the sermon he also gave an illustration from his experience as a child. when he was about 9 or 10 years old, he and a bunch of his friends were walking in the woods. after awhile they noticed that on the other side of the barb wire was a field of green pasture. then they all thought why they should walk in the woods with all these bumps and rocks when they could be walking on an easier or nicer path on the other side. so they climbed over the barb wires and started walking on the green pasture. they could see a flock of bulls further out in the fields, but they didn’t think much of it. after a few minutes, they noticed those bulls were all coming closer toward them, so they panic and started running and of course the bulls began to chase after them as well. somehow, they managed to climb over the barb wire fence again and as they fell to the ground panting for air, he saw those bulls on the other side of the fence with their heads sticking out of the wire panting for air as well. at that moment, he realized that the same barb wire that he thought were preventing him from having something better became his salvation. his story painted a vivid picture for me and shed light into my current life situation. there are times i like to think that “grass is always greener on the other side.” or to think that my life would be better if this or that. perhaps i haven’t seen any bulls coming toward me and I complain about the fences that god placed in my life. but in reality i can trust that those fences are actually there to protect me and to give me more freedom.

lastly, andy stanley pointed out that the focus is not to “keep out” the fenced area, but to really know the fence maker. many christians struggled to follow god’s will in their life, because they don’t’ know who god is; rule without relationship = distrust which leads to rebellion. in other words, i don’t have to know why the fence is there but i want to know the one who put them there.

# posted by joy @ 11:01 AM