The Ideal

 Psalms 119:32 -  "I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free"  


I read this verse this morning on July 3rd.  The word "free" stands out since Independence Day is tomorrow.  How interesting is this verse?   I run the path of your commands   - for you have set my heart free.    What do commands have to do with freedom?   A lot more than we think in todays culture.  

Today freedom means you can do whatever you want and that is considered freedom.  And by definition that is true.  I do think it is short sighted though.  Today's definition is really a humanistic only view of freedom.  For a person to make any decision in their life that they want is certainly freedom if you consider nothing outside of your physical life.   We are more than physical beings though.  If we are free in our flesh, but enslaved in our spirit, is it really freedom?    "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" - Mark 8:36

It seems we have our priorities backwards.  When we prioritize our physical desires over our spiritual health we gain a temporary pleasure at expense of our eternity.   It seems the apostles and countless others over time have been willing to sacrifice their lives for their spiritual well being. The spirit was their priority, and whatever happened to the body because of their spiritual convictions happens.  And that was OK with them.  

So when we value freedom in our physical lives above all else what has happened?   Is this the path to the sacred, or is it a path to desecration.  We are worshiping ourselves when freedom as we define it is our highest priority with no regard for the bigger picture.   

So, lets not take true freedom out of the context of the sacred.   The ability to start to legally do things in our country that were formerly illegal is often not progress.   Sometimes it is though.    Women getting to vote, slaves given freedom, and many other things have been good progress.   But, those things align with the ideal.

What do I mean by the ideal?  The ideal (Gods ideal) is sacred.  Having an ideal is critical.   Having an ideal leads us to the highest good.  "The path of your commands" that the psalmist writes about is a path to the ideal! 

When ideals are destroyed, chaos ensues.  There is no guiding force, no single direction for people to strive for.  As I said, then chaos ensues.  Many who follow the flow of the culture say; let them do what they want, it is their life, and we want them to be free to do what they want.   "you do you"  is a common phrase today.    How about you "don't do you"  How about instead you do the ideal!   Why would you settle for your "you" of today.   To have an ideal means you strive for that ideal.  In the case of Christ.   He IS our ideal.  He IS the sacred.  He IS what we should be focused on and striving towards.   It WILL make us the best that we can be in a unique way that aligns with God's principles and purpose for our life!  

Accepting people for "who they are", or "how they are" is a lazy and unloving approach to relationships.  It is lazy of our culture.  It is why everyone gets a trophy, and everyone passes the class, and everyone does an amazing job on everything.   So dangerous.   It is unloving to let people settle for less than ideal, to "accept them the way they are"   The way of God will set your heart free, but we can't get that staying how we are, we must strive, we must press on towards the goal as Paul did.    

It all comes back to loosing sight of what is sacred.   So as we pursue the sacred, we must know that the sacred is an ideal.   There is a way that is right and everything else is less than ideal.   When we pursue the ideal we are running on the path of Gods commands, and we are free!  Truly free, because we are living as we were designed, which is optimal.    The great news is, that you don't have to reach the ideal to experience the sacred.  We experience the sacred as we strive to reach the ideal.   For the psalmist.  Jesus is the path!   The sacred is the "the way" to the ideal.   Hey, I love you, but don't stay like you are!    Be better tomorrow than you are today, and point your compass to the ideal.  Jesus!   



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