Free to Be Children Again
By Gary Amirault
Those of you who have studied European History know that the era when the Roman Catholic Church had almost complete control of all life in Europe is known as the Dark Ages. Knowledge came to a grinding halt. The church had to be the guardian of knowledge, therefore it had to have all knowledge. Anything outside of what it already had could not be truth. Therefore, when Galileo rediscovered that the earth revolved around the sun, he was condemned by the church as a heretic.
Having been in many different denominations of Christianity, I noticed all of them having a tendency to establish certain rules or laws which will ultimately draw a circle of knowledge beyond which one is not allowed to enter. A wall is built and imprisonment begins.
Each castle has its set of laws which it establishes as ultimate truth beyond which it is forbidden to tread. That very "truth" becomes the chains which bind us to religion and separate us from the Person Who is Truth.
How wonderful it is when a child of the Living God can cast aside the weights of religion and be able to walk this earth knowing there is so much more to discover. Lack of knowledge becomes a wonderful opportunity for discovery!
The religious mind has to have all the ducks lined up in a row. The boundaries must be established! But to the child of God, his limits are God Himself! A child of God is free to grow, to learn, to wonder, to ask silly questions and not have their salvation questioned. Their salvation and their security are not dependent upon what they know but Who knows them. They have discovered a Father they can completely trust with their lives. They can be in a high tree and when the Father says "jump" feel absolutely certain they will be caught up into His loving arms.
The religious mind knows no such certainty. Their salvation is dependent upon knowing the right rules and making certain they are not broken.
When I was in the "evangelical charismatic" world there was a great freedom in worship, but the teachings in Bible class and in the pulpits had a lingering reminder of the priests of Rome declaring that the earth did not move. Every move of the spirit seems to eventually be suffocated out by dogmas.
Break free, ye children of the Most High and discover the joy of learning again. Discover the excitement of life again, that there is so much our wonderful Father has created for us to enjoy, to learn about and to play with.
Get on His back and let Him walk you through His wonderful creation. Let Him reveal to you His mysteries. But you must have the eyes of a child in order to see these things. You must become small again, decrease, as Paul (which means small) has said. Let us cast our cares upon Him and enjoy His Life. Did He not come that our joy might be full? Did He not promise the "abundant life? He most certainly did! Then receive it! Cast off those religious robes of the dark ages, the dogmas, creeds, rituals, the concrete shoes which have been cast around your feet. Let your hearts be gladdened with joy!
I don't care if you are 10, 30, 50, or 90 years old. I don't care if you are a father in the faith. You are and will always be a child of the Most High. He is the Creator. There is always room to discover, to learn, to wonder.
I pray that the crust of creeds be broken from your skulls, that your minds be renewed to rediscover the joy of our salvation! Rejoice and again I say rejoice for ours is the kingdom of God in which we can set aside our fears that we may dance again.