Are you Free? – John 8.31-32
John 8:31 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.
Jesus is talking to those who had shown faith in him. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah and God, but they did not believe or were not aware that faith in him would allow them to be freed from the bondage of their sin. Those activities and habits kept them from drawing close to God. They were in bondage, they argued that they were the sons of Abraham (descendants, children of Israel), yet Jesus tells them that they are not free. Infuriating to them.
Don’t we all want to think that we have control over our lives and habits? That we can make a decision to change, and it will happen. Yet we never decide, we decide and change our minds, but we never admit that we are in bondage to those habits, in bondage to the ways of the world, in bondage to the pressure of friends and family. Freedom comes by “continuing” (keep coming back to, reading, meditating on it again and again) then his word transforms our hearts. God negotiates our release from the prison of habits and choices we created. Be honest with yourselves, know the truth, learn the truth (keep coming back to read and meditate on it again and again.