True Freedom

Scripture
1 Peter 2:13-17

Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the approval of those who do good. For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people. Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God. Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king.

Observation
We attain true freedom by being servants to God. We are instructed to follow our own human institutions for the Lord's sake and in doing good for His sake we are honoring God and everyone around us. But by following and being subject to human institutions, we need to be careful we don't practice what is evil in God's sight.

Application
Today many people are thankful for the freedoms we have in our wonder country, the USA. As Christians we are instructed to follow our government laws and to be subject to their will. But that doesn't mean we have to do any works that would be evil in the sight of our Lord and we shouldn't. We should always approach everything for the sake of our Lord. This will most assuredly cause us to suffer if we don't follow mainstream evils that are allowed due to our "freedoms". We risk being mocked, ridiculed, sued, thrown in jail or worse. But today's scripture shows us that even for slaves who are suffering, that we should endure it like Jesus endured His suffering and we are assured the grace of God and this is the true freedom that we must seek.

Prayer
My Lord, Heavenly King Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, hear me, your humble servant, help me to endure the trials ahead of me because of my love for you. I pray that you protect my family and my friends from all evil but I ask if we are to be subject to evil that we are able to endure it for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.