DISCIPLE

The Kite Once upon a time a paper kite Was mounted to a wondrous height, Where, giddy with its elevation, It thus express'd self-admiration: "See how yon crowds of gazing people Admire my flight above the steeple; How would they wonder if they knew All that a kite like me can do! Were I but free, I'd take a flight, And pierce the clouds beyond their sight, But, ah! like a poor pris'ner bound, My string confines me near the ground; I'd brave the eagle's tow'ring wing, Might I but fly without a string." It tugg'd and pull'd, while thus it spoke, To break the string-at last it broke. Depriv'd at once of all its stay, In vain it try'd to soar away; Unable its own weight to bear, It flutter'd downward through the air; Unable its own course to guide, The winds soon plung'd it in the tide. Ah, foolish kite, thou hadst no wing, How coudst thou fly without a string! My heart reply'd, "O Lord, I see How much this...

A. W. Tozer Freedom is liberty within bounds: liberty to obey holy laws, liberty to keep the commandments of Christ, to serve mankind, to develop to the full all the latent possibilities within our redeemed natures. True Christian liberty never sets us free to indulge our lusts or to follow our fallen impulses. The desire for unqualified freedom caused the fall of Lucifer and wrought the destruction of the angels that sinned. These sought freedom to do as they willed, and to get it they threw away the beautiful liberty that meant freedom to do the will of God. And the human race followed them in their tragic moral blunder.      To anyone who bothers to think a bit it should be evident that there is in the universe no such thing as absolute freedom. Only God is free. It is inherent in creaturehood that its freedom must be limited by the will of the Creator and the nature of the thing created. The glory of heaven lies in the character of the free...

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."  (Galatians 5:13)     The liberty of the child of God is one of his priceless possessions. Made free by the Son, he is free indeed. But he is called to responsible freedom, not to license.     Children want to be free from the restraints of home. Young people want to be free from the discipline of study. Adults want to be free from their marriage vows. Still others rebel against being boxed in by regular employment. But these are not the freedoms to which we are called.     The stars are not free to leave their orbits and wander throughout space. A train is not free to leave the tracks and meander over the countryside. A plane is not free to leave its assigned course; its safety depends on the pilot's obeying the regulations.     Jowett comments, "There is no realm where the lawless are f...