The story of the Exodus is the story of freedom in every sense. It’s the story of a helpless people who cried out to God, and beyond all hope and expectation were entirely released from the bondage of slavery to a foreign power. This freedom required courage and obedience from the people, but no particular labors, and the sacrifice only of a lamb.

Simple obedience to the direction of God through Moses produced ultimate freedom.

The combination of obedience yielding freedom seems contradictory, yet this pattern is the great prototype of life in the Bible.

Today we tend to think of freedom simply as securing our “rights” to unrestrained willfulness , as license to pursue our impulses, but Biblical freedom is much more. It is the freedom to enter and share literally the divine life of God Himself.

A Millennia after the Exodus, St. Paul wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”( Galations 5:1) It’s Paul’s relationship with Jesus that has informed him about freedom. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart , and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:29)

Th take on a yoke suggests an additional bondage, but Jesus says his yoke is “easy” and “burden light”. It is a sweet thing to accept Jesus’ “yoke”, for it is given and received with love. This is the key that unlocks the freedom that was displayed at the Exodus, the freedom St. Paul says comes to us from Christ. His yoke is the obedience of love, the joyful obedience of a child toward his or her parent, conscious of the parent’s love.

The Bible reports that Moses was the Meekest man on the face of the earth in his time. (Numbers 12:3) Through his humility, his ability to put his own interests aside, God communicated with His people The humble acceptance of God’s Spirit in our lives unleashes divine freedom for us. Human freedom cannot compare to the freedom God has to give us. It is a better life, a more joyful life, and an accessible freedom right here on earth in the midst of our circumstances; a freedom that even the prisoner in his cell can experience and claim as his own today. The obedience of love produces freedom

for our spirits.

Love in Him,

Prue