We Can Be Free

Year 8-Day 52: Today, I am grateful we can be free. 

This image caught my eye. This sweet little bird is feeling the weight of the spool of thread. It is tying her down so she can't fly. The thread is pretty and would look lovely in her nest, but instead gathering what she needs... she seems intent on taking it all. She will wear herself out, and never get the spool into the air or in her nest. 

How many times am I like the bird in this picture? 2017 was the year I focused on the word "enough". It was a great year of learning with the constant reminder to be grateful for the times we have exactly what we need. No more... but no less. To learn contentment is a beautiful lesson that sometimes needs to be re-learned. 

There is a unique freedom in being able to not attach to the stuff of this world. It is fleeting. It wears out. It becomes "old stuff" rather quickly. How much energy and time is wasted on old stuff? 

"Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away." -1 Corinthians 7:31 (NLT)

"The Message" version says it well:

"I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out." 1 Corinthians 7:30-32 (MSG)

Following "The Way" can free us from the weight of the world and its stuff. Jesus did not condemn the rich man for what he owned. It was the man's inability to let stuff go that got in his way of following Jesus. We are to use things and love people, not love things and use people. 

Keep it simple. Set stuff free. Embrace the freedom. 

Today, I am grateful we can be free.