“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

(Galatians 5:1 NIV)

Allow me to begin today’s devotional with a question…

What areas of your faith feel more like duty or obligation rather than joy and freedom?

As Christians, we have this remarkable tendency to place weight upon ourselves that the Lord would consider ill-fitting and completely unnecessary!

I don’t know about you, but if I haven’t ticked a few ‘faith boxes’ during the course of my day, I can feel like a bad Christian and somehow less in the eyes of God.

For example, if I haven’t gotten up early to spend time with Jesus but have left it until the late afternoon, I can feel as though I have not honoured Him with my time and treated Him as second place in my life.

This is madness!

Whilst it is wonderful to spend time with God in the morning and as the first part of our days, the last time I checked it was the carving out of time with Jesus that He values most, not the time on the clock when that happens.

My heart has a way of squeezing the grace out of life and demanding law.

So, how can we embrace the grace that Jesus offers, knowing that our salvation and consequent relationship with the Father are not earned but received through faith?

I think a good way to do this is to relinquish control.

If we live with the assumption that we can control how God feels about us by how we behave, we have missed the point entirely. Like a child in the home of their parents, they cannot do anything to make the parent love them more or anything to make the parent love them less.

They are simply loved.

If that child chooses to pull up a chair and have a conversation with their parent, this no doubt blesses the heart of the parent. Seeing that their child is choosing to spend time with them must be wonderful. But it is not a prerequisite of their affections.

We must strive to avoid returning to slavery, friends. Make your relationship with Jesus a joy. Remember, if it doesn’t bring you joy but feels like a chore, what makes you think that brings glory to the God of the universe?