“We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler,
the snare is broken and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:7-8
To be set free is a beautiful thing. To watch as another is being set free is profound. Not everyone that looks like he or she is free is truly set free. Not everyone that looks like they have been caught in a snare is unfree. To be set free comes in many different guises. I have seen those set free from addictions begin to pursue their dreams. I have also seen those who look confined by caring for another set free to do so with immense tenderness and grace. I have delighted in watching those afraid to name the gifts within themselves step through an open door to pursue a calling they once thought beyond them. And it is possible to be in prison and find freedom in one’s heart.
The grace and power of Christ sets us free from all kinds of sin and all manner of deaths, but that grace always frees us for something else. Christ sets us free for life and for nurturing life.
On sabbatical I was set free from daily pastoral duties to hike the trail and pray the Psalms; it was a gift that changed me. But it has been a gift that is also for sharing and nurturing life ….which is one of the reasons, I suppose, I am writing on this blog at all. But this is a good question to ask myself today: How is Christ setting me free? What am I being set free for?
Suggestions:
1. Take this verse with you and ponder its meaning for you throughout the day. How has Christ set you free? What are you being set free for?
2. Or read the whole psalm to find out how this one verse fits into the whole.
3. Or comment with a photo of your own that is a window of this psalm’s meaning for you.
The next post will be on Psalm 125.
Starting January 1, 2016, for 150 days I am posting a daily psalm verse with a photo that is a visual meditation on the text for me. Each day a verse from the next psalm is chosen until all 150 psalms have been featured. To participate you may subscribe to my blog at https://elainedent.net or “friend” me on Facebook and watch for the daily links to blog posts. Disclaimer: I am not a photographer and most of the photos are from a cell phone or small camera while hiking the Appalachian Trail or the C&O Canal/Great Allegheny Passage Trail.
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