it all starts with abiding

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, ESV)

Believe it or not, the first step towards freedom is abiding.  If we ever have any hope of living a life that is whole and free, it will be because we have learned to abide in Jesus and in his truth.  If it is, in fact, the truth that sets us free, then we better get so familiar with the truth that it simply becomes a part of who we are.  Otherwise, we will constantly be blown around by every wind of opinion and agenda that comes along—and, believe me, there are a lot of that these days.

You see, truth is not relative, it is absolute.  If it were relative, then there would be no truth at all, only anarchy.  Jesus knew that.  And he knew the connection between truth and freedom.  Contrary to popular opinion, freedom does not come from determining our own truth—which is not truth at all—but by living in line with the truth from which, and for which, we were made. 

Thus, Jesus is the truth (see John 14:6), and as we abide in him, and abide in his word, we get to know what the Truth really is.  And then that truth sets us free.  But it all starts with abiding.  If I do not abide in him, and in his word, then I will never know the truth of his divine love and care and delight, and I will never experience the freedom for which I was made.