Israel, the nation- the people- were not always so. They have such a vivid history of beauty, grace, but also pain and suffering. They were once slaves. Treated unfairly. Suffering. But things did change. God allowed them to have a chance at something new and better. Freedom. He delivered the people from Egypt to the Promised Land. But even that process took 40 years.

My point is not even about the Israelites. Its about you. Its about me.

We each come from somewhere. Some come from a place with so much pain. Others come from what seems like royalty. Regardless of where we come from, we each have a constant developing story. Right now it is being written. Right now you are breathing it into reality. Your story. If you look back through your life, you can see a process. Like Israel, freedom is something we all innately want. We want to know that we are free, that no one owns us. That no one controls us. This is where the stories differ.

My story is a story freedom. You might still be in the wilderness. Or maybe…still Egypt. I allowed for God to bring out of a place that was not good. A place that had no hope and no life. Everything about that time in my life was awful. But when I allowed for God to bring me to where I am now, I have never been more free. I am not but a slave now free. I am not but a sinner now redeemed. All that I am I owe to God for giving me the same freedom he gave Israel. And now I choose to live everyday serving him in gratitude, not obligation.

Deuteronomy 15:15 “Don’t for a minute forget that you were once slaves in Egypt and God, your God, redeemed you from that slave world.”

I never want to forget where I was. To forget means to repeat history- to repeat those areas of my story that I would prefer to remain in the past. I can’t forget. But I cannot remain in those moments. Instead, I recognize the freedom of God daily. And I live from there in the Promised Land. This is what I want…to be slaves no more and truly living in freedom.