MARIA CURREY | CONTRIBUTOR
Do you remember the first time you slipped your feet into a perfectly fitting pair of shoes? Giving comfort, mobility, and even smart style? A shoe to tick all the boxes!
Mine were a multi-colored pair of clogs with an ankle-strap enabling me to run freely with little first grade bell bottom jeans, a blue-flowered tunic, and long braided hair flying behind adventurous feet. Those shoes and pants were a replacement for dresses on the playground because I kept falling and skinning my knees, so Mom found hardier fabric and sturdier soles. My teacher was grateful.
The good news is that Jesus gave ALL of us the same, custom fit shoes for our souls to run freely in Him. He gave the gospel of the readiness of peace, part of His armor in Ephesians 6, to stand firm and step out in our faith, to shod our feet for active freedom in Christ.
This is one-stop shoe shopping; we need only to sit and submit our feet into His hands and plans. There is a clear Who? How? Where? and What for? to freedom in Christ and what it looks like to fit our feet into His faithful hands.
Who makes it possible?
Galatians 5:1 and 13-14 encourage us: “For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh…For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus ratified the Old Testament law, offering freedom from a yoke of slavery and following the letter of the Law constraints with Mosaic limitations, ushering us into the New Testament, New Covenant freedom given through His sacrificial love. Freedom in Christ’s love gives us spirits that are free to love each other as we love ourselves.
So, we wonder,
How does He make it possible?
2 Corinthians 3:15-18 sheds increased light on the Old to New Testament shift from the Old to New Covenant freedom in Christ. “Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their heart. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed in the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Our Triune God’s Spirit is given to us; we are His new creation in Christ, enabled to see clearly in order to walk with transformed steps, avoiding snares of comparison and legs of legalism that might otherwise impair us from beholding and reflecting God’s glory, so that we can offer Him servant hearts in salvation freedom.
As we walk out this faith-filled freedom, we ask,
Where and for what steps does He make it possible?
Offering the law in its purity, Psalm 119:44-45 promises, “I will keep your law continually…and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your testimonies…for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love…and I will meditate on your statutes.” I’ve seen this in my own life. As God’s way surrounded me in His precepts, testimonies, statutes, and commandments, my steps were made surer; His freedom ushered me into wide places – heart and mind places that praised, meditated, and proclaimed His greatness. Into years beyond the playground, I married a man in the military, steps my first-grade clogs never would have ventured, but in Christ’s plan for our lives together, we have lived, learned, grown, and found greater freedom in Christ —to joyfully proclaim His Name!
Luke 4:18-19 echoes Isaiah 61:1, “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 captive and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” God guides us to unlock His liberty for those captured in sin; He holds the key which we share by His Spirit’s power, to unabashedly proclaim His freedom.
Soldiers are ready to protect people’s freedom. They strap on reinforced boots, ready for rugged, rough terrain and challenging conditions. Shouldn’t we also fit our feet with His readiness, trusting our God who makes all things possible to proclaim His freedom through us? His gospel shoes fit perfectly, so let’s wear them with boldness and share His good news—our freedom in Christ.
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Maria Currey
Maria is the Women’s Ministry Director at Northeast Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina. She holds degrees in Music and English from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, the city that connected her heart and life with her career Army officer husband. She and Craig have been married 34 years and spent the first 25 years of their marriage traveling the world with their, now, three grown children who have blessed them with five growing grandchildren! Upon military “retirement,” they settled and stayed in Columbia to work and be near family. Maria previously served in local and international roles within Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC), a military women’s ministry. She served as the Assistant Director of Music at NEPC, as hand bell and orchestra director and as the pianist. Maria is the author of the Bible study Understanding Wisdom, loves to study and teach the Word, to eat great lunches and talk about Jesus with other women, to explore God’s wonders with her grandchildren, to try new delicious recipes, and to water ski!