Craig T. Owens

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At the En Gedi Youth Center, the students loved when our schedule said “free time.” To them: Free time = me time!

Is that how you see your “free time.” Is your free time your me time?

For a Christian, being free should mean something completely different. It’s not time for me, but Peter wrote:

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16)

Free time is not me time, where I get to decide what to do, when I want to do it, and with whom I want to do it. That’s actually slavery to my passions or appetites.

Freedom is the ability to quickly obey God in service.

Any time I delay in obeying God’s call to serve, I am really disobeying Him. If I call Jesus my Savior and my Lord, then He has freed me from the entanglements of sin so that I may quickly say “Yes” to His call to service.

I love the King James Version’s phrasing of this verse: not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness. I am either obedient and serving, or I am disobedient and malicious. There is no middle ground.

No excuses.

No cover-ups.

I know I am free when I am thrilled to be able to quickly and readily answer God’s call to be a servant.

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