Freedom of my Life by Deon Crafford

Revelation 3:18-20 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Granting someone or a group (e.g. a military division) the freedom of a particular city, was something which regularly happened in years gone by. It is a tradition that stems from Roman times, when the boundaries or walls of the city were regarded as sacred. Granting people the freedom of such cities, was to recognize them as friends and allow them the freedom to display their powers and identity publicly. This still happens in cities where they are proud of what they are, and where military units are equally proud and disciplined. I interpret the freedom of the city as saying “you are welcome and loved here, we trust you to respect and protect our dignity and integrity, you can do as you please and move where you want to because of this trust”.

When Christ stands at the door knocking, two questions rise up in me – why is He on the outside and am I willing to allow Him across my “sacred” boundaries and give Him the freedom of my life? The fact that I am in a place to contemplate these questions, is because Christ voluntarily took my guilt upon Himself when He died on the Cross. How is it then He is on the outside? Have I developed such an arrogance to think I sustain myself, that I willfully exclude Him from my life? Here is the One who made me, who saved me, who sustains me, not forcing His way into my life, but dignifiedly knocking at my door. The Almighty God even allows me the final decision on being saved or not.

I cannot imagine how anyone seeing what we see in our world today, can still believe that we’re good on our own. I do not believe that human behaviour and endeavour at any level of society can create trust that we can live without God. I cannot understand how anyone would hear Christ knocking at their door and choose to ignore that. I am eternally grateful that my initial arrogance in shutting Christ out, was met with His patience. I pray that all who reads this, have either opened the door or are in the process of doing so.

Love to all