Freedom

This world grapples after freedom,
Constantly chasing and snatching at this goal.
It seems at times to be a fanciful illusion,
For in the fight for freedom, they bicker for control.

Then in our lives, we look around and are tired.
Tired of restraint that seems to bind.
So, we run, and toss off the offensive fetters,
Only to find we’ve donned another of a different kind.

Freedom is a deceitful master,
He tempts with the promise of being unrestrained.
But when our own will is made to be ruler,
Freedom becomes the enemy to which we are chained.

We battle for our rights, and amid all the fighting,
Blindly destroy what we’d set out to win.
Our thirst for liberty has fermented and ripened
Into a danger that will kill us from within.

The “freedom” of this world is but vanity;
A lie saying we’re free when we do as we please.
For in selfishness, we will not find refuge,
But a vice of death that the enemy does squeeze.

So where is this freedom we all dream of—
Freedom in this world, and in our soul?
It seems that no matter where we run, it eludes us,
And what we claim to hate, subtly has control.

True freedom is obtainable—not a fantasy.
It is found where few men condescend to seek.
The trouble is when we look for what we call freedom,
We, with the eye of selfishness, critique.

There is One who has purchased our freedom,
Seeing our lost and dying state.
He received our punishment, paid our debts,
Now our acceptance of this gift He does await.

In Christ, we are offered true freedom;
He has purchased and made us free.
And to follow His example of love and service,
Is how we experience true liberty.

We were created to serve and bring glory.
The question is, to whom will we bow?
There’s one who would love to subvert and destroy;
And another, the Master, only the good does avow.

Let’s accept and run after this King who has saved us,
Restoring the freedom that we so lack.
It’s not a battle to achieve all our selfish desires,
But the need to get our true reason for living back.