Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

Fireworks will soon fill the skies.  They will mark freedom, reminding us of what once was and allowing us to savor what now is.

Over the next several months, we’ll be studying the book of Philippians.  Today I viewed it for the first time as a book of freedom.  It, along with the entire Scriptures, provides the hope, source and keys to the freedom of living a meaningless life devoted to self.  During the remainder of the year, we’ll get to learn how to be free from:

• Living loveless lives (Phil. 1:9)
• Cowardice and fearfulness (Phil. 1:14)
• Discontentment (Phil. 2:2)
• A lack of joy (Phil. 3)
• Pride (Phil. 2:6,7)
• Complaining and arguing (Phil. 2:14)
• Anxiety (Phil. 4:6)

A friend was challenged to read the entire book of Philippians four times daily for a month.  She started skeptically, but soon found herself waiting for the next ay she’d ingest the four chapters of God’s word.  In thirty days, her life changed.  She’d open her mouth to grumble, then recall Phil. 2:14 and change the subject.  She stopped meditating on the things that worried or troubled her and began focusing on things that are true, noble, lovely and praiseworthy.  By the end of the month, she was still unemployed and there were still real-world issues that infiltrated her life, yet her countenance demonstrated one profound change: freedom. 

Let it ring in our lives, too.