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03/04/2018
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.
Last on
Tue 3 Apr 201805:43
BBC Radio 4 FM
Tuesday in Easter week
Good morning.
My guess is that you aren’t going to be that free today. You have a routine to follow, duties to perform and problems to endure.
One of the delights of holidays is that they promise a couple of precious weeks when we can shake off the straitjacket and choose what we want to do. We dream of blue skies, gentle seas and a snooze on a sandy beach. But before that we have to queue for a security check at the airport and do as we’re told. It feels a bit like sheep-dipping. Then there’s the wait at the Gate until someone says the plane is ready.
Whatever freedom we may have, it’s restricted.
The Bible has lots to say about freedom, which isn’t surprising since the Old Testament people of God had been enslaved and New Testament Christians lived in a Police State.
It was in those constrained conditions that Jesus said about himself: “If The Son makes you free, you will be free indeed”.
The kind of freedom He offers isn’t licence to do as you like; it’s liberation to do what is right. People fought for it. Martyrs paid dearly for it. Thomas Jefferson said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I have Christ’s picture of the way ahead: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Lord God, giver of life, may I value the freedom I enjoy today and use it wisely. Amen.
My guess is that you aren’t going to be that free today. You have a routine to follow, duties to perform and problems to endure.
One of the delights of holidays is that they promise a couple of precious weeks when we can shake off the straitjacket and choose what we want to do. We dream of blue skies, gentle seas and a snooze on a sandy beach. But before that we have to queue for a security check at the airport and do as we’re told. It feels a bit like sheep-dipping. Then there’s the wait at the Gate until someone says the plane is ready.
Whatever freedom we may have, it’s restricted.
The Bible has lots to say about freedom, which isn’t surprising since the Old Testament people of God had been enslaved and New Testament Christians lived in a Police State.
It was in those constrained conditions that Jesus said about himself: “If The Son makes you free, you will be free indeed”.
The kind of freedom He offers isn’t licence to do as you like; it’s liberation to do what is right. People fought for it. Martyrs paid dearly for it. Thomas Jefferson said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I have Christ’s picture of the way ahead: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Lord God, giver of life, may I value the freedom I enjoy today and use it wisely. Amen.
Broadcast
- Tue 3 Apr 201805:43BBC Radio 4 FM
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