It all begins with a seed. [Credit: Jason Long, Unsplash.com]

My generation ~ the up & coming “Millenials” ~ is (wonderfully so) obsessed with freedom. Myself included.

We are the generation that grew up on Oregon Trail, email & Napster, came-of-age with AIM and social media, and cut our career teeth on Tim Ferriss’ The Four-Hour Workweek.

We millenials love our freedom, don’t we? We love the idea of remote work, forever freelancing our ways away from the dreaded 9-to-5 (or cubicle).

Is it any surprise then that we carry this torch of liberty into our spiritual lives? I sure have. If there is something I’ve wanted my whole life, it is FREEDOM. Freedom from the rigidity of school. Freedom to make my own choices. Freedom to set my own schedule. Freedom to do what I want, when I want. Isn’t that the ‘American Dream’?

But what my generation is starting to realize is that freedom comes at a cost. Our flag wouldn’t be flying if not for the thousands of sacrifices and lives laid down to make America “a new nation, conceived in liberty”. Money doesn’t in fact grow on trees. Pounds aren’t lost without sweat & grit. Freedom is costly.

Seeds of Freedom

Have you ever wondered why true freedom seems elusive — in our grasp one day & like the wind in the next?

I’ve come to understand that we are given SEEDS of freedom, full of potential. The Lord littered His Holy word with Scriptures chock-full of promises to us, brimming with possibilities.

But we can leave those seeds there, those nuggets of wisdom He provides. We can choose to reject His promises for another “pathway” to freedom {as if one exists!}.

After all, God’s way is SURELY not the easiest. Jesus told us that Himself, calling His ‘the narrow road’. My generation – me included – has mistaken the word ‘narrow’ for limiting, confining, oppressive… all those words we’ve come to despise!

But God teaches us a principle here: The narrow road leads to life, to true freedom. We cannot endlessly explore every possibility, every path, every sinful entanglement, and expect to not be trapped in its clutches. The wide road has far too many pathways — and many of them lead to danger, pain, or emptiness (self-actualization, I’m looking at YOU!).

God gives us seeds. We choose to plant them – or not. We choose to water those seeds – or dig them up & plant something else (chasing the ‘wide road’, perhaps).

He shows us how to live, then gives us the freedom to deny it. To say “NO! I’m gonna hold onto this sin – even if it kills me.” He sends us warnings, no doubt. And He disciplines us, those of us who are His children, the spiritually “born-again”. But we are free to walk away. We are free to remove His influence from our lives. God really does give us that kind of freedom, on a level that continues to astonish me.

I mean, didn’t He realize how many people would reject Him & His ‘narrow path’? Didn’t He know how much sin would increase in His beautiful world & thus mar His image from its face? Didn’t He know the pain & suffering we would endure – at our own hands & others’ – because of such freedom?

Of course He did. He is God. He is all-knowing, all-seeing. Nothing escapes His attention. He knew my failures today before the day dawned. He knew how often I would choose poorly & how frequently others would, too. He knew the chaos we would cause, much like a mother hen who watches over her ‘brood’ & rescues the wayward ones who wander to places they shouldn’t.

Despite the inherent dangers of our freedom, I’m beginning to LOVE this quality of God’s – not that He’s laissez-faire {because I don’t believe He is} but that He’s willing to risk watching us struggle & suffer when we rebel instead of dictating our lives to us. He wants us to choose His ways, but He’s no dictator… and the kindest part is that He picks up our pieces when we fail miserably. He rights our wrongs. And when our actions etch our lives in irreparable stone, He still has a solution: He rewrites our history with Jesus’s. Ahead of time, our all-knowing Father sent Jesus to cover our ‘issues’, sins & mistakes.

Yes, as much as people may think God is a micromanaging ogre ready to zap us for failing, the reality is He’s simply given us seeds to live a TRULY, EPIC-LY FREE life… but we don’t have to plant them. We can scatter them to the wind, as MANY in my generation are choosing to do, as I have often chosen to, too.

But if we are willing to dig deep into the soil of our lives & throw some dirt on those truths He’s given us, the coolest thing is this: These seeds will yield a harvest. What we plant, we will reap. Like anything in life, it doesn’t come without tough choices, discipline, & a conscious decision to veer away from the road to perdition. But if we choose His path, the promise is that we’ll taste true freedom. Doesn’t that make you want to plant godly seeds, ones that’ll usher PEACE into your future?

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ~Hebrews 12, emphases added

The seeds we plant are our choice. If we follow His word, His promises, our lives may not always look like we expect but they’ll always bring us His peace. And that’s what it means to live truly free ♡