Freedom. Freedom to be what God intended us to be. Freedom to rest in Him. Freedom to let God work. Freedom.
Lay It Down is about Gospel freedom. Lay It Down is not about performance … it’s about freedom to live abundantly in all that we were created to be … it’s about freedom to live in Christ Jesus.
Bill Tell, a leader in The Navigators for decades, writes of his walk from burnout to freedom in the Gospel. Tell had to unlearn certain beliefs he had about the Gospel, and in his reconsideration, he found the true grace of the Gospel.
He found that
… the Son of God lived and died so we could begin experiencing the glories of eternal life now and the radical life-changing freedom of the gospel today! It is a freedom that changes everything about us; it’s a change we desperately need. p. XV
Tell writes of three miracles about our relationship with God.
- The unconditional Good News. God views His children differently. That means that our performance does not win God’s love. God views us through the performance and sacrifice of Jesus. God views us differently than some have been conditioned to view themselves.
- The transformational Good News. God makes His children different. His children are free to obey, love, and bear fruit.
- The relational Good News. God relates to His children differently. Because God’s children are free from shame, they are free to be loved and to accept that love.
In Lay It Down, Tell demonstrates what Jesus told His disciples.
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Those who belong to Jesus, must lay down their performance, their independence, their shame, their ego, and let Jesus work in them.
My prayer
Father, thank You, that You have completely taken care of the Good News and that there is nothing that we can do except lay down our performance, our shame, our brokenness at the foot of the cross. Thank You that You have delivered us from our sin, and You have transformed us to live in Your freedom of the Gospel. Lord, bless Bill Tell as he points people to You.
Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of Lay It Down: Living in the Freedom of the Gospel for my honest review.
