Luke 13:12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”

Now this is a genuinely blessed calling! We generally think of a calling as being commissioned to do something, but Jesus called this woman to be free! As Paul put it, “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.” (Galatians 5:1) All sorts of things bind us, and the devil twists our understanding to the point that we think we are becoming free when we choose things that result in bondage. Alcohol, drugs, and illicit sex are prime examples of that. Paul said essentially the same thing twice in his first letter to the Corinthians: “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12, and again in 10:23) Jesus calls us to be free of all the traps of the enemy. The problem is, all too often we like our chains! I’m sure this woman Jesus freed was delighted to be set free, but very sadly, that’s not a universal response. Some people use disease and/or disability to milk society for sympathy and privilege, and don’t really want to be free and “normal.” Addictions are no joke, but liberty is possible in Christ, if the choice is there. The devil does all he can to deny that choice, but he can’t change God’s truth.

I haven’t had a debilitating disease or been snared for a long time by substance abuse, but I can certainly testify that nicotine is addictive. In college I decided that a pipe would look “cool,” and for a while I smoked one frequently. Thankfully, I’ve never been enamored of cigarettes, but I did smoke an occasional cigar. It was less than three years, certainly, when I decided I liked the taste of food even more than apple-flavored tobacco, and I quit, so my wife has never seen me smoke. However, quite a few years later I was asked to direct a play in which one of the characters smoked a pipe, and I demonstrated, since if not done right, the pipe will go out. That first “hit” showed me clearly that nicotine is addictive! The Internet is another area where I have struggled. I have had to learn that it isn’t just unsavory content that can snare us! In the position that I am, I am to be an example of the liberty to which we are called, and I am never to betray that.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your grace toward me over the years. Help me walk consistently in that grace and extend it to others, not being permissive but being accurately loving, so that the lies of the devil may be defeated and more and more people be set free indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!