DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 6 January 2025: A Fresh Look at Freedom
Text: John 8:30-36 (KJV)
30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
KEY VERSE: John 8:32
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Freedom has been a basic human desire. It is most appreciated when threatened or lost. Freedom comes in different forms. The famous Austrian psychiatrist Holocaust survivor and the author of Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl, observed that “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Frankl wrote this as one who went through the gruesome experience of concentration camp in Auschwitz.
Our Lord Jesus Christ gives a more profound idea of true freedom and how it is secured. As He shared the gospel in the temple with mostly proud and antagonistic Jews, many believed in Him. He charged them to continue in His doctrine as proof of the genuineness of their discipleship. He also promised that as they continued in His word, they would know the truth, which would set them free. In response to the unbelieving Jews who tried to contradict His word, Christ further stated, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Like the arrogant Jews in today’s text who thought that being of Abraham’s seed conferred freedom on them, many people have wrong notions about freedom. Some even ridiculously think that freedom implies a liberation from moral responsibility. Freedom comes from knowing the truth. We know the truth by knowing Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Knowing Him gives us the privilege of being free from the yoke and guilt of sin, lust/corrupt passions, satanic bondage, and divine condemnation.
As we continue in His word, we are further exposed to particular liberating truths that help us enjoy more freedom in our pilgrimage and service. Knowing Him also confers us with the responsibility of reaching out to our friends and neighbours lost in bondage to sin and trespasses. Christ died to set them free, too. The proof of our conversion and love for the Saviour is that we prayerfully and constantly get involved in soul-winning to make men experience and enjoy true freedom.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
You cannot be free indeed until you become Christ’s disciple indeed.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Genesis 17-20
Daily Manna 6 January 2025
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