"When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 6:20-23 NIV)

Everyone is a slave to something. Sometimes it’s money or prestige, pride or prejudice. Sometimes it’s our work or our car or a drug. At times it can even have the appearance of good - like family, tradition, fitness, or health. Whatever it is, the passage above shows us that it distracts us from God. Life becomes about attaining our own selfish desires rather than pursuing right living (ie. righteousness).

One of the great paradoxes of the Bible is that in order to be free we must become a slave to God. Think of all the things that we have done in the name of freedom that in our hearts we knew were wrong. We worried, felt guilty, stewed. Eventually we forgot and felt better, but when we look in the mirror the stain from the past is there. When we become a slave to God he wipes away the stain. No longer are our hearts riddled with the guilt of actions past. We are free to live the lives that God had intended. Lives full of faith, hope and love.

This wonderful gift of freedom comes at a price.

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