I JUST WANNA BE FREE

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Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 ESV

As the result of a childhood experience, I carried around a heavy yoke. I thought I had to. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that if I called someone a "fool" I was in danger of the fire of hell. That is what I was told. Apparently I believed it, because I panicked. The more I tried, the harder it got not to call anyone a fool, even God. I felt Jesus looking into my heart, and that was frightening. I was spiraling away from Him into blasphemy. Then in Matthew 6:25, Jesus tells us not to be anxious? Why not, Jesus, you just scared the bejeezus out of this poor little kid. The Sermon on the Mount will do that to you if you read it without the GospeI. I then spent the rest of my youth trying to get free from parents and church. Rock music was the voice of our generation leading the way. (Think Chicago's "I Just Wanna be Free".) Later, when I understood the Gospel, I realized that God offers us peace, and rest from this very real burden.
Then I could read the Sermon the Mount without worrying about the fires of hell.
In the words of William Cowper, ("Love Constraining to Obedience" 1772-1773),

Now freely chosen in the Son,
I freely choose His ways

TO SEE THE LAW BY CHRIST FULFILLED,
To hear His pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child
And duty to choice.

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