I loved one of the illustrations from Pastor Matt‘s sermon on Sunday. I’ll get to that in a minute. The gist of the message was that we are called to “serve one another” (Galatians 5:13-16). In fact, God has set us free in order to serve. And we can use that freedom to serve God and one another, or to serve ourselves. God isn’t going to force us to serve, but the invitation is there.

This freedom/choice/invitation to serve comes with responsibility (think Spiderman here, I suppose). Pastor Matt brought this idea home with the example of a teenager receiving their driver’s license. We all know that feeling of freedom! We can now go anywhere, anytime! We’re free! No more being carted around by your parents! But will we be responsible with that freedom.

On one hand, I can use my freedom to serve others. I could drive my little brother or sister to school with me. I can run errands for the elderly neighbor who has no transportation. All good.

Or, I could drive to that party on Friday night and consume adult beverages and drive home drunk and cross the center line and take the lives of innocent victims of my  freedom irresponsibility.

It’s kind of extreme, but it makes the point.

God sets us free. We can use that freedom to serve others responsibly, or irresponsibly use our freedom in destructive ways. How are you using your freedom?