Psalm 119:32 says, “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.”
To me it looks like a contradiction, “I am free to do what you want, not what I want.” That is what it means, but to us that looks like obeying someone else, not freedom. Many years ago when I lived in Sioux Lookout, I had an experience that helped me understand this idea. If we think of life as a journey, this experience seems very relevant.
I used to go cross-country skiing each day when I finished work. There was a 5 km trail that a friend and I would go on every day. The trail was not flat like Manitoba, but rather adventurous. You know it gets dark early in Canadian winters, so we would “race the dark” many times.
As the weeks went by, we got to know the trail very well: at each place, we would know what was next, whether a sharp turn or a hill, or whatever. This meant that we could ski very quickly along the “racing loop.” I could go at top speed even if it started to get dark, because I knew what to do next. I never moved the wrong direction to ski off the trail or to bump into trees or rocks. I was free to hit my top speed, like the Psalmist saying, “I run in the path of your commands.”
If I had wanted to be truly “free” to “do what I wanted” I could go off the trail, but I would end up in deep snow. I would have to ski very slowly, and be careful of rocks and little bushes, and I would be exploring so I would be unsure of where I was going. That’s fun too, but not as it’s getting dark!
I think that’s what “freedom in Christ” is like in the journey of our lives. If we have no path, we start off doing what we want to, but we can get lost or caught in bushes (like the lost sheep), in the dark. If we want to run quickly, God has provided a path in His Word. He also sets us free from the things in our hearts that would tangle us up (like the Israelites coming out of slavery in Egypt to worship God in their own land, or Hebrews 12:1-2).
I see this is Psalm 37:4 as well: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This doesn’t mean we get whatever we want. “Freedom in Christ” is not taking away external things that stop us from doing what we want, but breaking the power of the internal things that hinder us from desiring what is good. God’s purpose is to change our hearts so we truly love Him and understand what He wants. When we want what He wants, then we really can do what we want to do: and then of course we get His very best!
To do this means training our heart to love God and seek His will, which changes our hearts to find joy in following His path, wherever it leads. Then we can run freely and joyfully in His path. Happy skiing!
