Take me to higher ground

"I'd love for you to meet my pigmy goats, Mark and Luke." says author Donna Partow. "A lot of people think they are just dumb stubborn animals. Well, come to think of it, I guess they are. They aren't particularly useful either. I can't milk them (they're both males as you may have guessed by their names.) I wouldn't dream of slaughtering them for their meat. They can't bark if a prowler shows up on the premises. They eat everything in sight...especially my husband's prize rosebushes. My husband cannot for the life of him figure out what I see in these goats. He says they are useless, and when I think about it rationally I must admit he's right.

But I don't care. I love them to pieces anyway. I call them my babies, and I enjoy spending time with them. My favorite time of the day is our morning climb. Each day I hope against hope that this is the day we can climb without resistance, without delays and detours. Those days are rare indeed.

You see, the house next door is under construction. And like most construction sites, it's an eternal mess. Styrofoam coffee cups, fast food restaurant wrappings, wood scraps, nails. You get the picture. For some inexplicable reason my goats find this trash heap irresistibly appealing. They'd rather wallow in the mess than follow me to higher ground.

Sometimes all I have to do is coax them back on to the path. Sometimes I bribe them with their favorite honey-and-grain mix. Some days I actually pick them up. Then there are those days when I have to take a tree limb and do some serious persuasion.

As you can imagine, the workmen think I'm a lunatic. I'm sure they wonder, Why on earth does she bother with those dumb animals? Why doesn't she just leave them alone and let them enjoy the trash heap? Good questions.

It's because I know something the workmen don't know. I know that despite all their protests, once I take my goats to the mountain-top they remember: This is what they were created to do. And when we get to the top of that mountain, as I sit on my prayer rock overlooking the valley, the goats are filled with joy. They leap from rock to rock, then come snuggling up to me, as if to say, How can we thank you enough for reminding us who we really are?

One day as I sat on my rock thinking, I realized, I'm just like those goats! God wants to take me to higher ground. But I resist him. Even though I know the joy and tranquility I experience when I climb the mountain to fellowship with God, how many days do I ignore his call? How often do I prefer the trash heap to the mountaintop?

I guess I'm just as dumb as those goats. Often I'm just as useless. Yet God loves me and longs to fellowship with me, just as he longs to fellowship with you. God is calling us to higher ground. Will we resist? Or will we follow willingly?"

(This is from the book Living in Absolute Freedom by Donna Partow.)

Whatever

"The first step on your personal journey to living in absolute freedom is facing your bondage" says Donna Partow in her book Living in Absolute Freedom. "It begins when you realize that although the promises of our culture sound wonderful, you are in constant danger of being enslaved. We become seduced by our culture, eager to get our hands on the best this world has to offer." The author says we need to go God's Word, the Bible. "God has sent us into the world, but we are not to allow the world into our hearts."

As she says, we are free to smoke, drink, and eat junk food all day. But are these things beneficial? Do they line up with I Corinthians 6:19-20: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?"

And "We are free to make our own choices, but let us never forget: First, we make our choices, then our choices make us. The next time you are exulting in the truth that you are free to make your own choices, remember: You are not free from the consequences of those choices."

Also, "I am free to watch R-rated movies, but are they beneficial to me? Does my doing so line up with Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

This book has given me alot to think about. It is easy to go with the "ways of the world" and of our society, choosing to do things which are not truly beneficial. We tend to think that we have to "give up" our freedoms, such as freedom to watch certain movies, or eat or drink in ways we enjoy. For me, it is new to think of this in terms of "choices". I have the freedom to make a choice. It is up to me which choice I make.

Jesus Set Us free ... Are You Free?

Have you ever seen a circus elephant and wondered why that dinky little rope around its ankle is strong enough to hold that great big elephant? Well, it isn't strong enough, but the elephant thinks it is! When a baby elephant is being trained, they use a strong chain around its ankle and tie it to a post. The baby tries and tries to get free, but it can't break the chain. When it finally decides it can't get free and gives up, then the trainer substitutes a dinky little rope for the chain. In its mind the elephant has already decided it can't get free, so it gives the power to the rope to enslave it. It would be so easy for the elephant to break free, but it doesn't even try.

There are many things that people allow themselves to be chained by - from Oreo cookies to other people's opinions. The book Living in Absolute Freedom by Donna Partow provides wonderful examples and insight, and also a longer version of the story about the circus elephant. She reminds us that when Christ went to the cross, he broke the chains that bind us. He set us free from the power of sin and death. If you have trusted Christ for your salvation, you're no longer in bondage.

If you are not living free, it's probably because you ( or someone else ) has tied some dinky little rope around your ankle. Since you haven't taken a close enough look, you're giving that rope far more power than it deserves.

I am finding the book Living in Absolute Freedom to be very insightful. I'm only on Chapter 3, and I'll let you know what else I learn as I read through it.

Thy Will Be Done

I have been studying FREEDOM. I am surprised by what I have been learning. We think that we are free when we are "free" to do whatever we WANT to do. But so often, as we pursue pleasure and indulge ourselves, we make choices which ultimately are harmful. We may even become enslaved by addictions to alcohol, gambling, shopping, and .... OH NO ! ... the internet.

We may be caught in a "rat race" trying to buy bigger TV's, fancier phones, more fashionable clothes. Perhaps we have become stressed out and frustrated. We long for more peace of mind, more kindness, more love in our world. It could be that we find we have become like the man in Romans 7:19 "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."

However, if we choose to go the way of God, then we find ourselves becoming more and more free. And if we can get to the point where our own will has become the same as God's will, then we have become TRULY FREE. Psalm 143:10 says: "Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness." I like to think of it as:

"Let my will and thy will be one."