The following is a devotion from my message series 10 Steps to Freedom. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus!

STEP SIX: day 5

Do life together

Let’s say that you had a large couch that for some reason you had to carry around with you wherever you went. Every place, every day. The couch represents all of the junk, all of the mistakes, all of the guilt, all of the things keeping you from freedom. Now the weight of the couch isn’t really the issue. It’s more the shape and size. It’s bulky, it’s hard to get your arms around, and it quickly becomes exhausting. After awhile, having to drag that couch (your junk) around with you wherever you go influences where you go and what you do. And in the end, the most tempting thing is to give in, to sit down square in the middle of your junk and not go anywhere. That’s where many people find themselves when it comes to their junk, their mistakes, and their guilt. It’s exhausted them and so now they’ve given up and they’re sitting in it.

But what if you weren’t alone in trying to carry your couch? What if you had three friends, and they each agreed to lift a corner of the couch? The weight of the couch hasn’t lessened. The shape and the size of the couch hasn’t changed. And yet the couch itself has become something bearable, something doable. You can begin to get your life back, a life of freedom. All of that happens because of the power of together. Together isn’t easy. The easy route is to tough it out on your own, but the easy route always leads to isolation. You need a herd. You need a tribe. You need a family. It may be family members. It may be co-workers. It may be friends or people with whom you go to church. It may be your neighbors. Find together. Find freedom.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. Who are the neighbors on your street? What are some practical things you can do to build community with them?
2. Who in your life needs you to bring the power of together to them? Who needs you to lift a corner of their couch to make their burden more bearable?

You can read other devotional entries for 10 Steps to Freedom here.