To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8:31-32 (NIV)

The Truth will set you free!  Is this what we seek?  Is this what we need?  Are we all secretly bent of freeing ourselves from our low earthly ways?  And here we have the answer!  Jesus gives us the key!  Is this great news?  Do we finally have the recipe to success?  Or do we still need to think it all out?  Are our religious notions mere loosely held opinions?  Or have we drunk deep enough into these truths until they become concrete and experienced knowledge?  Jesus clearly gives us the process.  Did we effortlessly accept it?  Or have we taken the time to digest it and aggressively press close enough to find sweet revelation?

Jesus teaches us the steps.  What are they?  He says to those who believe in Him, to hold to His teachings.  What does this say to us?  Are we even listening?  Is He saying that we make some rules from what He taught and then try our whole lives to follow them?  Or is He guiding us into a Way of thinking and a Spirit that will guide us no matter what we encounter?  Is it cold and detached ideals that we can manipulate?  Or is it a close and intimate walk with a Friend we can know and love?  Who is the disciple who really holds to the teachings of Christ?

In holding Christs teachings and believing in Him, we become His real disciples.  From there we pass on to the next step.  What does Jesus say that is?  Does He say that then we will know the Truth?  What is it to know?  Is knowledge just a theoretical concept which we have accepted into our general thinking?  Or is it something more experiential?  Is real knowledge something that must be engaged, digested and lived out in some personal form?  One may believe that Paris is a beautiful city without having been there.  But to truly know that beauty would we need to experience it in person?  Therefore should the same be said of Jesus?  To know the truth can we carry on in hearsay?  Can we settle for just reading of Him?  Or should we get into motion?  Should we set out in pursuit?  Should we actually make a journey?  Shall we actually go unto Him?  Should we press on into His Presence?  Shall we get to know Him personally?

Will it be then that we come into the Truth?  When we come into a real and intimate walk with our personal Saviour, is that when we can say we know Him?  Is that when He will be able to speak to us personally?  Is that when we can engage with Him daily?  Is that when we will make it to this next step?  Is that when we will be set free?  When we come to know Jesus as our Truth in a living and vital relationship, is that when we will be set us free?  Will we finally be free to live with and engage openly with our Lord?  Is that the kind of freedom we seek?

Dear Jesus, we want our beliefs to go deeper than a superficial notion.  We want to live through all that we know of You in living experience.  We want to experience Your love, Your forgiveness, Your instructions and our belief in You!  We want to KNOW You!  We want to personally know the One they call the Truth!  We want to experience You every day in a thousand new and exciting ways!  We want our knowledge of You to and our walk with You to be our Truth!  We want that Truth and that bond to set us free!  We want to be free to be with You!  Help us experience and embrace each and every step we pray!

Amen

By S.D. Wonenberg