‘Lord, I’m not free, but who wants to be? You’re all that matters in my life. I don’t want to be free of my hunger for Your bread. I don’t want to be free of my thirst for Your Word. I don’t want to be free of my desire for Your will. I don’t want to be free of my longing for Your presence. I don’t want to be free of my need to be taken up, taken over, joined to You. Lord, may I never be free from wanting You.’ - Brennan Manning
It is a paradox - in seeking freedom, we are enslaved (Ps 16:4, Rom 1:28). But in Christ…
…in losing our lives we find them (Matt 16:25).
…in carrying a cross, we are freed (Matt 16:24).
…by becoming last, we are first (Matt 20:16).
…by being yoked to Christ, we find the burden is light (Matt 11:30).
…In dying to we live (Rom 6:11, 2 Cor 5:17).
And this is the beauty of our faith, the more we press into the paradox, the more we too can say - I don’t want to be free of my need to be taken up, taken over, joined to You.
Lord, let it be so. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Living in paradox,
AB