Psalm 119:45  ⁴⁵ I shall walk at liberty, for I have sought your precepts.

Sometimes we feel that keeping all the rules limits us. We are not free to do what we want. We can’t enjoy ourselves. We can’t have fun. We are stuck doing only the things we should do. We try to find ways to cheat and think we have gotten away with it. We feel like the cheating is an expression of our freedom.

God tells us that it is only when we keep his precepts that we are truly free. We escape the bondage we experience in sin. We are deluded into thinking that we are free when we do things we shouldn’t, but in fact we are imprisoned more by those actions than by doing right.

A sinful life is one in which relationships are broken and lives are hurt. Even little cheats hurt us. We feel guilt rather than joy. We know that we cannot take it back and lose the opportunity to stay on the right track. It may take us a long time to get back on the path.

God can transform our thinking and let us see that we are only truly free when we walk in his paths and follow his ways.

O Lord, make us free. Set us on the right path so that we can walk at liberty. Amen.