Apr. 12: Abundantly Free!

In the movie Pursuit of Happyness, inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, Will Smith plays the role of the tenacious father who wants a better life for his family. (By the way, I’m still disappointed that Will Smith did not win the Oscar this year for Best Actor). In one scene his son is playing basketball and dreaming of being in the pros one day.

“Hey Dad, I’m going pro. I’m going pro.”

“I don’t know. You’ll probably be about as good as I was, you know. That’s the way it works, and I was below average. So you know, you’ll ultimately rank somewhere around there. You’ll excel at a lot of things, just not this. So, you know, I don’t want you out here shooting this ball around all day and night, alright?”

“Alright.”

He dejectedly throws down the ball. He is finished. As he bags up the ball he bags up the dream; crushed. Chris, realizing what he’s done, and trying to salvage the dream and reignite his son’s passion, says,

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you that you can’t do something—not even me, alright? You got a dream? You got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves they want to tell you that you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it; period."

The father had dreams for the son, but in the process of pursuing his dream he crushed his son’s dream. Every good father has dreams for his son(s) and daughter(s). God, our Heavenly Father, has dreams for us, too. I like the way it’s phrased in The Message, a modern-day English translation:

“Long before God laid down earth's foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love… Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, His blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people— free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either; Abundantly free!” (Ephesians 1:4, 7. The Message)

Abundantly free. Being made whole and holy. Free of penalties and punishment. Not because of our hard work, but because of Jesus. What shall we do with such freedom? Selfishly take care of me and mine? Live for myself and my pleasure?

I want to discover Father’s dream and see it become reality. What’s that we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? In gratitude, my dream is to see His dream fulfilled. Jesus stated the dream when He began His ministry on earth. Reading from Isaiah chapter 61, He said,

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

God’s dream is to see people become free. Abundantly free. My dream is to see God’s dream become reality. "You got a dream? You protect it." You nurture it. You let God bring it to fruition.

~ Father, help me to live with you and for you, everyday. Help me become what you dreamed me to be. I pray that more and more Your dreams become my dreams. Amen.