Freedom Is Calling. So Is the Cage.

Last weekend I read an article in the latest issue of Christianity Today titled, “Freedom Is Calling.  So Is the Birdcage.”  Sandra McCracken, the author of the article, talks of driving down a highway recently, and seeing a truck that was carrying poultry in open-air cages.  No doubt they were going to some kind of poultry processing facility.  She then said that on some days, she feels like one of the birds on the poultry truck…caged in the confining circumstances of daily living, barreling down the highway of life on an open-air truck to who-knows-where.

We Christians often find ourselves in the same place as Ms McCracken.  We don’t wish to be like the poultry in the cages, but sometimes we find ourselves there due to life circumstances.  Overwhelming sadness, uncertainty of the future, unrelenting workload, the breakdown of normal living, and sometimes our own stubbornness can keep us caged up like the birds on the truck.  And sometimes we wake up in the morning and have no clue how we got to that point in life.

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.”  Paul reminds us of the truth of the freedom in Christ in Galatians.  In that same letter, he says, “It is for freedom Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, therefore, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Our freedom in Christ doesn’t depend on the uncertainty of life and the breakdown of normal life and living.  These past couple of months have certainly been a time of sadness, uncertainty, and life that certainly isn’t normal.  We may feel like we are somehow caged up in the circumstances of the day, unable to function as we would like.  Our emotions may be on a kind of roller coaster, especially if we are temporarily out of work, if we aren’t sure if the place where we work will open again, or if we are having difficulty maintaining some kind of family normalcy.

Those emotions…those ups and downs…those experiences are normal in a situation such as the one we are in right now.  However, as Christians, let us also remember that we have a freedom that transcends the freedom of not having to stay at home or not being able to patronize a local business.  We have a freedom that helps temper the emotional roller coaster and the experiences of day to day living.  We have a freedom that cannot be taken away by a virus, a government order, or the loss of a job.

Our experiences may fluctuate from day to day…and that’s normal.  Our true freedom, however, remains secure in Jesus Christ.  He is the key.  He is the open gate.  He is the one that calls us out of the cage and into the freedom of eternal life…both now and forevermore.