“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36
Today’s Christian daily devotional
“Nurse. No! Please stop! I’ve changed my mind.” The exam table paper is crunched and disintegrating in her sweaty hands.
One look at the nurse’s helpless expression was all Whitley needed to see. It was over: the baby, her horrible secret and life as she knew it.
That haunted expression is always the last thing Whitley sees right before she awakens. Covered in perspiration, she clutches her empty belly. The area where Whitley used to feel her baby kick was never quite the same.
She feels the labored breathing of the heavy body beside her. Richard doesn’t move an inch and continues to sleep soundly.
Whitley wonders what it would be like to be enveloped in complete peace throughout the night. It didn’t happen too often. Even in her happiest dreams, there was always a gnawing sensation in the pit of her belly, in the corner of her mind.
She tosses off the sheets and heads quietly to the bathroom for a drink of water. Whitley catches her reflection in the mirror. She hated what she saw. Her whole life was an endless reaction to crisises, not a purposeful existence. Who was that girl in the mirror, really?
“Babe, come to bed.” Richard paws sleepily at the empty spot beside him.
“Okay.” Whitley chirps through the crack in the door. Even the pitch of her voice sounded high and needy, like a desperate child.
Her abortion happened twenty-five years ago, when Whitley was only seventeen. Her ‘problem’ was solved but a million more weighed heavy on her mind.
Ever since that moment, Whitley felt as if she were frozen in time. Ironically, unable to move beyond that one step she took towards actually getting her freedom. Wasn’t freedom supposed to feel good?
This past Sunday, Whitley’s pastor spoke about the unique sense of freedom that only Believers in Christ get to truly enjoy. He quoted John 8:36 and said that Jesus died for every one of our sins. He eerily mentioned that even those who have taken the life of another were welcome to partake in it.
When Whitley heard those words, her heart ached so badly. She was desperate to believe it. But, it was hard for her to picture the kind of freedom that the pastor was speaking about. It felt like it was meant for everyone else in that pristine church–not for Whitley and her dirty little secret.
Whitley allowed doubt, guilt and fear of the unknown to prevent her from enjoying the full measure of freedom that Christ died to give her. Will you? He died to give every one of us an abundant life. There is so much that God wants to do to you and through you but that can’t happen if you don’t believe it.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
Christ did a miraculous thing when He died on the cross. He not only bore all my sins but the guilt that came along with them. When I repented and asked for forgiveness, I know that I was truly forgiven.
Lord, help me to forgive myself. Help me to really receive your forgiveness. For some reason, I cling to my guilt as if that will in some way pay penance for my sins. This is an insult to you. Only your perfect Son could atone for my sins. Only Christ was good enough to render the payment for them. Help me to see this truth, and to know it in the pit of my belly. I want to enjoy the freedom that Christ died to give me.
In Jesus’ precious name, set me free, free from the lies of the accuser, free from the past I am forgiven of and free from the limits I have been putting on myself.
Show me the side of me that I have never seen before and help me be all that I can be for you. Amen.”
Thank you for reading today’s Christian daily devotional on verses: John 8:36
Please check back and see what we have for you tomorrow!
Author: Julia Shalom Jordan