"You Ain't Gotta Do This..."

Random story for the day:

I was walking to meet a friend for coffee. On the way, I pass by a moving truck and thought nothing of it. That is, until I heard, "Aye! Yo! Smile man! You ain't gotta do this s***." I looked over confused at who this African American guy is talking to. He was talking to me.

I was still processing the fact that he was talking to me. So I looked at him for a solid 10 seconds, dumbfounded. I don't remember what he said afterwards. But I remember him mumbling something about kids these days not enjoying life, loving life, etc. In my head I was thinking, "You right brutha. 'ppreciate you speakin' the truth to me today."

I apologize for my terrible attempt to type out my "hood-like" thinking. But you know, we gotta immerse ourselves in the culture to understand and love people.

Personal lesson for the day:

Be thankful. Life's not easy, and we have to work hard sometimes. BUT the hardest work has been done. We don't need to work our way to God. He came down to meet us where we're at.

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36

I heard a sermon on this verse not too long ago from a pastor at the Austin Stone.  There are no conditions on this verse. It doesn't say "... the Son sets you free IF you do better, work harder, act holier, etc." Nope. Jesus has set us free. So we're free. Done. Finished. Close the books.

That should give us relief. That should change the way we live life. We can work, play, live with the knowledge that we're free! This truth should empower you and me to live life in a completely different way.

So I hope we can all be encouraged by my brutha, "We ain't gotta do this...". Because God's already done it.