I was flying home recently after teaching with others at a Winter Advance on Hayden Lake in Coeur D’alene, Idaho. On the flight from Spokane, I heard the voice of the pilot over the speaker say what he always says, “You are now free to move about the cabin.”

I always chuckle when I hear that. Move about where, and do what? I think what he really means is it’s okay to get up and use the restroom.

So freedom to move about the cabin during a commercial flight is really not a whole lot of freedom to move. It certainly doesn’t mean you are free to do whatever you feel like doing.
No, you can’t toss a football around with friends.

The Bible talks about those who are born again having freedom. But the Scriptures do not in any way indicate that means doing whatever you feel like doing whenever you feel like doing it. The Bible does speak about using that freedom to lovingly serve one another.

On that flight from Spokane to Phoenix, I had time to reflect on the weekend I experienced. The theme of the 2016 Winter Advance on Hayden Lake was “Service.” And of course, “love” seemed to come up over and over in all the presentations.

The Bible has much to say about service, and love is always connected. You need to truly love God if you’re going to truly serve God. Serving God’s children with love is indeed serving God.

And it goes without saying the greatest servant ever was the lord Jesus Christ who gave his life for us and now those who believe in him will receive eternal life. He said, “Greater love than this has no man that he lay down his life for his friends.” He was not only the greatest servant, but also the greatest lover.

If we say we are “followers of Jesus Christ,” then we love and serve people. And loving service is having genuine concern for others. It is doing what needs to be done.

I had many, many takeaways from the weekend. One of them was to just do your best to lovingly serve others. That’s pretty simple isn’t it? I like simple.

Enjoy your freedom. Let love be your motivation. You are now free to move about the world, lovingly serving others. You are free to love!