2 Cor 3:17-4:1
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom .  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 

What a freeing definition of freedom…….set free to become more like Jesus, with ever-increasing glory, under the controlling work of the Holy Spirit.

Driving through Nevada on our way to Montana, we encountered an interesting sign.  It was one of those big green exit signs, announcing the exit for “Independence Valley.”  Beneath it was further information, announcing,   “No services. Prison Area. Hitchhiking Prohibited.”   What a contrast, a prison in Independence Valley.   Independence, freedom from the control and influence of others,  contrasted with the regulating guards and prohibitive walls.

A great discussion flowed from that scene.   Could the unrestrained  exercise of our own independence actually become  a form of  imprisonment?   We can become prisoners of our own pursuit of independence, constrained by the category by which we define it.   If we are left to invent ourselves, we end up in the bondage of self, captives of that which we pursue for selfish independence.   Independence freely sought doubles back for a handshake with the imprisonment of an empty destination.    What the world offers for independence can be costly.  The self-imposed jail of independence is a dangerous place.  There is a better alternative, being in dependence on Christ and His Word-----there is freedom.
James 1:25
“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom , and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.”
Gal 5:1
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Can one person’s independence be prison for another?   Could independent exercise of freedom put others in bondage?  That is a dark independence valley, a terrible freedom.

1 Cor 8:9-10
“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”
 
A bright alternative exists, one which requires courage, the expression of interdependence flowing from living in dependence on Christ, grounded in the Word, in contrast to the independence of self.    Freedom from Independence Valley!
Ps 119:45-48
“I will walk about in freedom ,  for I have sought out your precepts.
I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame,
for I delight in your commands because I love them.
I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love,
and I meditate on your decrees.”


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