FREEDOM

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  Luke 4:16-21 (ESV) When you proclaim the truth, are you arrogant or just truthful? Jesus had a tough assignment here. He is God and needed to proclaim that fact. It is not an enviable position. Yet, when we hesitate to speak the truth in love because it is hard, we fall into Satan’s trap. Truth is often hard in that it cannot be manipulated and lies can be arranged so that whatever we do is justified and even noble. I need to always remember that it is truth that sets me free--pure, unadulterated truth. May God alone help me sort it out and allow me to live in the freedom of His truths.