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Is Freedom choice? |
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Written by John Thomas OBrien
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Sunday, 27 January 2008 |
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T oday I went to Starbucks……. I ordered a hot chocolate; non-fat, extra chocolate, no vanilla, w/whip cream! I liked it……. it was a beautiful thing and a magnificent drink. I ordered it just the way that I wanted it.
That is the greatest selling point of Starbucks (one of the most successful businesses in recent years), you can have it any way you want it. You are free to be you when you order; its not pre-fabbed, pre-heated, pre-recorded, pre-ceded or under pre-tense. Coffee, any way you like it…..extra espresso, vanilla, macchiato, carmel, and best of all CHOCOLATE (a double shot at the very least).
I love to have a choice when it comes to just about everything; we all do. When we don’t have a choice, we feel like we have lost our freedom…… that’s simply not the “American way”. We are people of choice, people of freedom, we are individuals!!!!!
That’s what freedom looks like? Like an order at Starbucks! Which answers the next question on the list of “several questions that come to mind” when introspection is taking place regarding the whole FREE TO BE ME issue.
Freedom is choice.
If I am Free To Be Me; I have a choice. I would like a Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino (extra chocolate). Freedom is a very attractive thing. Most of us probably want money and success so that we can ultimately have freedom.
“I can do what I want too, and no one can make me do anything else”,
“I can go anywhere I want to go, anytime I want to go there”.
That is freedom that we would all love to have.
Ok…..freedom largely involves choice; right. How free is free? Where does it begin and end ?
Oddly enough, when people are continually free to choose anything they want, anytime they want, they end up unhappy. That is a very bizarre phenomenon.
There is an end to freedom even though it doesn’t seem like there should be.
The need for progress and growth is programmed into our core….. it’s part of who we are. There is a need for spiritual fulfillment, for affirmation, for love, hope, and progress (not an exhaustive list, of course). So many people who “have it all”, end up unfulfilled because they are not fulfilled in their heart; not spiritually, not with hope, not with progress, often times not with real love.
Bottom line…. without limits, we end up lost. We end up trapped. We end up unhappy.
How free is free…..?
God gives all of us a choices, everyday, all day.
If I order scrambled eggs and bacon and Starbucks, they will look at me very strangely and say “we don’t serve bacon and eggs here Sir”.
Free To Be Me, doesn’t mean there are no limits; it means that I have the freedom to choose within the framework of what is or what could be.
Without boundaries, everyone of us would get into pretty significant trouble and wonder how we ended up in such a terrible place. There can be great freedom even with boundaries; I would venture to say that a better quality of freedom is one with some boundaries. We end up appreciating the freedom we have much more, with some boundaries.
God set nature in order; time and space….. everything has to work within the parameters of the nature that He set in order. He has given Himself the right to interrupt nature at any given point (it’s called the sovereignty of God), thus making prayer a viable thing that can produce great, life-changing results…… that can possibly and sometimes do override nature (miracles).
Within this framework, we have been given many choices….. We are Free To Be Us and we don’t have to be “pre-fabbed Christians” or have to look, act, dress, talk, walk, or carry a HUMONGOUS Bible with us at all times and it still pleases God and we can actually have a relationship with Him.
God loves us! US….. Me….. You….. as we are! Amazing!
God has put so many great things (gifts and talents) in you and I, that we can choose to use almost any way we desire. We are Free To Be……..
Begin to dedicate yourself to God. Be willing to return some of His gifts in you, back to Him.
How Free is Free………………………. it’s as Free as you want to BE
Pursue Peace! JOB/GWW
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 27 January 2008 )
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