Hello Freedom.

I see a young girl here. Full of a life force she can’t explain that compels her to leave the shadows behind and run towards the sunshine that beckons her to come forth. With the grace of a gazelle, she runs with the wind. She runs wholeheartedly, knowing that what lies ahead of her is far greater than what lies behind her. The Light that crowns her head knows her by name, and invites her to embrace the beauty of the green, grassy meadows that await her. It’s an invitation she lovingly accepts and with a freedom in her soul she can’t explain, she runs.

She knows that what she is running towards is unknown, but growth is more important than comfort. She unflinchingly exchanges the safety of the familiar with the adventure of the new. The new she knows may be uncharted, but is worth it. For The Light that crowns her head has told her so.

So she believes.

She believes because The Light that crowns her head is also The Love that surrounds her. He surrounds her with a fury that no darkness can penetrate. The promises He makes nothing can terminate. He goes before and He stands behind. He stands alone, so she never ever has too.

Together, they run.

They run towards lush, green pastures. Here she discovers more. She sees how tenderly this Love she believes in cares for His sheep. She takes to heart as she notices how He willingly lays down His life for His sheep in order that they may find theirs. As she gazes upon the beauty of this Love, she knows she has been forever changed.

Changed so radically that she knows she will never be the same again.

The Love she has encountered has created in her heart the capacity to say a full, “Yes,” to a journey that is sure to come with its fair share of ups and downs, but she remains undaunted. Simply because she knows beyond a shadow of doubt that The Love she runs with is stronger than anything she will ever face.

So, they continue to run together.

And as they do, she discovers more.

She discovers that this Love teaches her to move like the water and the wind. Fluid and free flowing. Whether its stones, pebbles, mountains or rocks; water easily makes its way over them or around them. An element that moves so swiftly that nothing can stop it is thus, rendered immovable. Much the same with the wind that blows with such an extravagant freedom that nothing can contain it.

And so it is with this Love that she has experienced. Nothing can stop Him, and nothing can move Him. Except our hearts. Our hearts, she understands, move Him and so she decides to joyfully give hers away.

Give it away to the Love that never gives way.

As this dawns upon her, she begins to want to become more like Him. This is where the journey begins to touch depths that she could have never even imagined nor hoped. Recalling how this Love gladly lays His life down for His sheep, she receives a revelation that moves the very core of her being. For it is evident that for His sheep to find their lives in the life that He chose to lay, He too had to first say a full, “Yes.”

A full,”Yes” to being reduced to love, and a “Yes” so full that it prompts ours too.

For as we journey with Love, we too will reach milestones where the depths of His sacrifice for us and commitment towards us touch us so deeply that we simply say, “Yes.”

Yes, to being reduced to love which leaves us more full and free than ever. More full of peace. More full of patience. More full of humility. More full of honor. More full of compassion. More full of understanding. More full of quiet strength. More full of mercy. More full of grace. More full of love as a result of being reduced to it.

It’s a paradox one can’t explain, but only experience.

An experience that leaves us so free that it borders on fantasy.

For that’s what The Cross exemplifies,

Freedom.

Having nailed the law to The Cross, Jesus has left us with only one law which is the law of love against which there is no law. Love that encases the majesty of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control is a love that nothing can stand against, and because nothing can?

We are truly free.

So shall we run?