Free to Choose

Neil Anderson's Daily in Christ Devotional

February 26

FREE TO CHOOSE

The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The Spirit-filled walk is neither characterized by license nor legalism, but liberty. Paul stated that we are "servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life . . . Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:6, 17).

I believe that our freedom in Christ is one of the most precious commodities we have received from our spiritual union with God. Because the Spirit of the Lord is in you, you are free to choose to live a responsible and moral life. You are no longer compelled to walk according to the flesh as you were before conversion. And now you are not even compelled to walk according to the Spirit. You are free to choose to walk according to the Spirit or to walk according to the flesh.

Walking according to the Spirit implies two things. First, it's not passive. We're talking about walking in the Spirit, not sitting in the Spirit. One of the most dangerous and harmful detriments to your spiritual growth is passivity—putting your mind in neutral and coasting. The Christian classic War on the Saints, by Jessie Penn-Lewis, was written to combat such passive thinking. Sitting back and waiting for God to do everything is not God's way to spiritual maturity.

Second, we're talking about walking in the spirit, not running in the Spirit. The Spirit-filled life is not achieved through endless, exhausting activity. We mistakenly think that the harder we work for God, the more spiritual we will become. That's a subtle lie from the enemy. Satan knows that he may not be able to stop you from serving God by making you immoral, but he can probably impede your service by simply making you busy. Our service for God can become the greatest detriment of our devotion to God.

Lord, I desire to walk according to the Spirit today at Your pace, not sitting passively through inactivity or running myself ragged by becoming too busy.

Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ All Rights Reserved Taken from Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson