Day 29 | Freedom Definition

Read Romans 9:1–33

Today’s topic might make you uncomfortable. But let me encourage you to lean into Scripture. The freedom of God is the reality that God is not bound by any kind of external circumstance, limit, or restraint. His character and actions are not subject to peer pressure, lack of funds, limited time, or incompetence.
He is perfectly free to do all He desires, and He has the perfect power, knowledge, and presence to accomplish His desires. He is the freest being in the entire universe. We see this clearly demonstrated in Romans 9. Paul points to the inequity of Jacob receiving the inheritance over Esau, and then he reminds us of when God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. And he sums it all up in 9:18, “So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (this is a reference to Exodus 33:19).

This is just one example of God’s freedom. Why did God create? Why did God judge the earth but save Noah’s family during The Flood? Why did God deliver the Israelites? Why has He done everything He has accomplished in all of salvation history? Why was your neighbor healed of cancer when your wife is still going through chemotherapy? Why? Because God is free, and He is good.

Last year, I got COVID-19. I still can’t smell most things. When someone makes me a delicious meal, I can’t honestly say that it smells good because I can’t smell it. But you know what? I know it smells incredible, even though I can’t smell the aromas that used to make my mouth water. What’s the problem? It isn’t the food. It’s my nose. When you come to a passage of Scripture that makes you uncomfortable, your first inclination shouldn’t be to say that it isn’t true because you don’t like it. It’s probably your nose, not the food. Hard things are not bad things. Some realities in the Bible are hard, but they are good. Let’s dwell on applying this reality to get a taste of its goodness.

Pray for 10 minutes