DON’T LISTEN TO THEM — YOU HAVE A BLANK CHECK
There will always be voices—earnest, confident, well-meaning—who insist that the life of faith must fit inside carefully labeled boxes. They will offer you systems instead of a Savior; slogans instead of a Shepherd. They will warn you not to stray beyond their borders, as though grace itself were fenced land.
But the Gospel does not come to us with a clipboard or a flowchart; it comes with a cross. And at that cross, Christ does not hand you a contract with fine print—He hands you a blank check written in His own blood.
The apostle Paul declared, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). Liberty is not lawlessness; it is love unshackled. When Jesus calls you, He does not first ask which camp you belong to—He asks if you will follow.
The early disciples had little theology by way of labels, but they had Christ before their eyes, and that was enough to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Truth walked among them, not as an abstraction, but as a Person—“full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
“I am of this,” says one. “I am of that,” says another. Paul heard the same cries in Corinth and answered them with holy impatience: “Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:13). The moment an “ism” becomes your refuge, Christ is quietly displaced. Systems may explain, but only Jesus saves. Doctrines may guide, but only love fulfills the law (Romans 13:10). You were not redeemed to become a defender of a tribe; you were redeemed to become a servant of the King—free, fearless, and faithful.
So do not listen to them when they tell you that grace must be rationed, or love measured, or mercy earned. You have a blank check because Christ paid the full price. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). Serve Him boldly. Love Him simply. Walk humbly. Let others keep their labels if they must—but you, keep your eyes on Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
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Lord Jesus, free my heart from every voice that competes with Yours. Teach me to serve You in liberty, to love without fear, and to follow without reservation. I place my trust not in systems, but in You alone. Amen.
BDD
