So…..what is the opposite of freedom?
Enslavement
Restriction
Loss of control
Nope………the opposite of freedom……….is safety.
I know a guy.
He has made his way through the last 40 years without a regular 9 to 5 type job. He makes his living through tens of thousands of small individual transactions. He gets up in the morning, has his coffee, and decides how he will spend his day. This guy understands freedom. He lives it. But, he doesn’t have a clue as to where the money will come from next month. He doesn’t have a pension. He never has carried a lot of insurance. He has survived cancer and multiple hurricanes without it. In a word, he has freedom; but, he has given up a lot of safety.
I am the polar opposite.
At age 12, I chose a career path that would guarantee me a good stable income, respect, and prestige. I worked my fanny off. One summer I worked a job that was 36 hours on and 12 hours off…….all summer long. I have almost no memories of college. I slept during the day and studied at night. I did this to avoid the distractions of a social life. And it worked. I had a fabulous, extremely successful career. I live a liberal retirement. But, to get here, I have thrown away freedom by the truckload.
Freedom vs. Safety
It occurs to me that one of the most important choices that we will make in our lifetime is a choice between freedom and safety. It is the choice between secular humanism and Christianity.
Secular humanism offers us freedom. We can do whatever we want. If you don’t like being a man……identify as a woman. If you have an unwanted pregnancy….abort it. If you disagree with a law…..ignore it. Ultimately, you are in charge. Nobody can tell you what to do. You live freedom……every day. But, you are going to die. At that point, the lights will just go out. And, that is the best possible case scenario. The worst possible case is hell. Looking at it from a long-term perspective…….you have no safety at all.
You are on a tight rope with no net. And…..sooner or later…….you are going to fall.
“No one gets out alive”.
Jim Morrison
Christianity, on the other hand, is a way of life that imposes expectations on us.
Love God
Love everyone else
Obey the 10 commandments
Accept Christ as your leader……your saviour
These expectations will restrict everything that you say and do for the rest of your life…….if you do it well. You will give up freedom by the truckload. In exchange, you will gain ultimate safety. No matter what life sends your way…….you will spend eternity in paradise with a creator who loves you………a creator who made you for that one purpose.
Freedom or Safety.
And here is the amazing part.
You get to choose.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus, a poem by Henley
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Psalm 23: 4-6, ESV