Bible Gateway : 1PET 2:16;

"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God."
1 Peter 2:16

Bible Gateway : 1PET 2:16;

I was spending time in the word today, and this passage really caught my eye. It made me stop and took me to places that I have not been in a long time, places that remain in the recesses of my cousciousness, really nothing more than distant memories from a life that I shall never live again. "Live free". Those are some of the most powerful words that a man can be told. For a boy who is just coming of age, it is a writ, an exhortation, an mandate. For a man like it, they are words that conjure up feelings of adventure, boldness, courage and faith.

As a young child, I grew up reading novels and watching movies about the heroes of the world. I remember watching John Wayne playing the cowboy taming the wild west, fighting off the bad guys and rescuing the fair maiden. I read books about the knights of old, chivalrous warriors who wore armor and stood up for what is right and were fearless in the face of danger. They lived with honor. I remember my favorite sculpture that I had ever seen was a rendition of the "End of the Trail". It was so sad that my heart hurt just staring at it for minutes into hours. I could imagine the lone warrior riding to the edge of the sunset and being able to go no further. I could imagine the cowboy who grew up taming the frontier only to find that it no longer existed, the sage overtaken by barbed wire fences, railroads and hughways.

Now modernday manhood is measured by profit and loss spreadsheets, the number of cars in a driveway, cell phones, paid time off, expense accounts, personal portfolios and the amount of production made in an eight hour day. Then that man drives home into the sun to a small world that is divided by cul-de-sacs, street lights and suburban sundivisions. And I ask myself...is this what life has come to? Is this all there is to life?

I remember the first time standing on the starboard side weatherdeck in the Pacific Ocean as we sailed southwest to points unknown. As an eighteen year old sailor on a six month WESTPAC float, I don't think I have ever seen anything more majestic than the sunset as the fiery ball of oranges and red crashed into the dark ocean, relaced by the midnight blue dusk of another night on the water with no land in sight. The only comfort is in the rhythmic rocking of the ship and the sound of the bow crashing through the water. Never in my whole life have I ever felt so small in this world. Never before have I ever fully realized the full power and majesty of the Lord, who created this world. I was overcome with awe, fear and thanksgiving. Oh, what it is to be a young sailor with nothing but the ocean before me.

In that moment I knew what Magellan felt like. I knew what Merriweather Lewis felt like exploring the vast expanse of the west. I could understand what Livingstone felt like exploring. In that moment, I had lived a thousand lives in a single passing moment of time. I was given a mandate to "Live free". I could do anything. I was a physically fit, superbly trained, though not yet experienced sailor, going to sea with other high-speed low-drag type of warriors in a tight knit family of men, a brotherhood if you will. There was nothing I could not accomplish. There was no obstacle before me that I could not overcome.

And then real life set in. The the line between right and wrong became blurred and the question was now "what is the wrong that is more right". The situation was no longer cut and dry. The world was no longer black and white, but cast in gray, where judgement, conscience and faith were our only guides on this journey through life and war that had no map. It was uncharted rocks and shoals, a myriad of choices, chances, regrets and questions as I carried on through this uncharted territory.

Now....In context: "For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." (1 Peter 15-17 (NIV)).

My purpose in life is not a destination, nor will God show his purpose for me in a sign or a billboard or anything else. Well, he might but I am not waiting for it or counting on it. No, my purpose in life is actually quite simple. It's not an endpoint, a scorecard or even a parchment on a wall. My purpose in life is to "live free, use that freedom to serve the Lord, Love the Lord with all my heart and to use the gifts that the Lord has given me for his glory and greatness." That's it. End of story.

In Matthew, Jesus has a conversation: "'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" (Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)) . So long as I keep the Lord at the center of my actions and words, I have the free will within my life. Same way as Paul tells the Corinthians to not be yoked to unbelievers. Also in Corinthians Paul says that a widow may remain unmarried or marry who she chooses, so long as he belongs to the Lord. That's free will.

In Romans 12:6-8, we are told that all receive gifts and that we should use them diligently. Some have the gift of prophecy, others teaching, serving, governing, encouraging and so on. We are told to use these gifts diligently. He doesn't tell us HOW to use these gifts. He sets the parameters and lets us use our FREE WILL to carry them out. This reminds me of a military officer who issues an order to a sergeant, gives him the tools and then gets out of the noncom's way to let him to the job.

God is much the same way with us. He has given us the orders: "Love me with all your heart, soul and mind. Then love your neighbor as yourself"; "Live as free men but do not use that free will to cover up evil"; "Use your gifts from God diligently". He has given us the tools to carry out these orders through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. What more do we need? What other road map do we desire?

I am a paramedic. Through God's grace and the gifts He has given me, I think I am a pretty good paramedic. I have started IVs in the streets on a stabbing victim and on the field of battle. I have intubated a cardiac arrest patient wedged between the toilet and the shower. I have defibrillated patients in the back of a speeding ambulance that is going a million miles a minute. But...I have also held a little girl's hand and made her smile with a stuffed animal. I have placed a hand on a beggar's shoulder and handed him a sandwich and a cup of coffee. I've prayed with a dying man as I carried him back to the hospice center.

Yes, there is much technicality and much medicine in being a paramedic. But there is also a lot of humanity to it also. Sometimes I think that the kind words, the soft touches, the gentle hand holdings and the soft smiles have touched more lives than the IVs, the ET tubes, and the ECGs. Through loving God with all my heart, mind and soul, I am able to love others as myself, humbly. If I did not love God with all that I am, I would not be able to love and care for Leslie as much as I do.

So here I am, after twelve years of military service and standing on the edge of a vast frontier. Like the sailor heading south by southwest with nothing but the expansive ocean around him. Show a man his future and you take it away. No, I would rather have the adventure of this world before me, betting all I have on faith in the Lord, confidence in myself, and the knowledge that the past was not so bad, the future is nothing to be so fearful of, and that the present truly is a gift from God.

People ask me what I will do now that I am out of uniform. I tell them that I will serve God. It could be in the back of an ambulance in your hometown. It could be in a small Hospital in Nairobi on a medical mission. It could be standing in the pulpit sharing the word of God and teaching. I don't know. God willing, it will be all of those things.

I will love God with all my heart, mind and soul.

I will love my brother as I love myself.

I will use my free will, and not use it to cover up evil.

I will use my gifts diligently.

And God willing, I will be doing it with Leslie at my side.

The Word of God contain my orders.

The Holy Spirit is my companion.

God is my Creater and my ultimate guidance.

This, I have faith in.