There’s freedom, what we’re called in a name, like royal priest or God’s own position. It’s what gets us in the door to the place of crowns, that blessed shore, where lives the strong man who rode the white stallion and hurled a dragon in a lake of fire. It’s as if when we believe, we become the bride, and the name we take is Freedom, but we don’t exactly know how He likes His eggs cooked yet.

And then there’s freedom, the now kind of freedom that gets naked and doesn’t hide its odd shape. There’s freedom that is active and worked out, like from war. Freedom sweats, kisses her lover on the mouth, turns her cheek, and cuts off dominions in their paths.

Just because we’re called free, doesn’t mean that we act it. Sometimes you have to wake up in the morning and reforgive all 250 people who’ve hurt you. You have to write their names down, renounce anger, and hack at the chains. As with true rest, standing firm in freedom is absolutely awake and engaged, not numbed out or sleeping under the weight. It goes through the pain and not around it.

Your name is Freedom now. So fight.

There’s a freedom I hear about that I just don’t always recognize in my life. I long to be free so much that maybe I’ve built a habit of feigning it. I would love it if you would like to join me in exploring this path to true freedom, A Study of Chains in 31 Days. You can follow along on Facebook or subscribe to these posts by email or in a reader. {Thank you so much, by the way, for walking with me.} Are you ready to shirk these chains?