How The Path to Freedom is Hidden In Plain Sight

A collector of stories, Evie Polsley loves to learn from those around her. She has seen how God can use our unique stories of trials and triumphs to help draw people closer to him. As a daily part of the Tyndale Bible Team, she loves helping people discover how the Bible plays an integral role in each of our stories. She is passionate about helping others better engage with the Bible so she can have a front row seat to seeing how the Holy Spirit uses them to transform the world! It’s a joy to welcome Evie to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Evie Polsley

Around the end of World War II, an entire block of Toyko was a red-light district.

The signs posted all around the block were written in formal Japanese so the lowest members of society could not read them. Poor farmers, laborers, and their families only learned common Japanese. Only members of the upper class or those who were part of higher society learned formal Japanese.

Some families that did not have the means to survive resorted to selling their daughters to brothels to try to save their land or put food on their table.

The women who entered these areas believed they were slaves because they could not read and understand the signs posted all around them.

A young Salvation Army officer, Gunpei Yamamuro, was moved with compassion by the Holy Spirit and began fighting for the rights of these women. He created a special edition of a magazine, called The War Cry, in which he translated the signs and laws into common Japanese so the women could read and understand them. It also offered ways for the women to find help and hope.

As the magazines were distributed, the women learned the gates that they thought trapped them had always been open—they had always been free.

The signs they were unable able to read said they didn’t have to stay there – it was their choice to go at any time.

They were not slaves but free to leave what they thought was their captivity. There was nothing holding the women in those rooms, to that life, and they rushed from the district, embracing a freedom that had been hidden from them.

I can’t stop thinking about that story.

I heard it on a recent family trip to Japan and even walked the block where they had once lived. As I continue to reflect on their story, I am awakened to the reality that their story goes beyond that city block. It is a story that echoes through human history and resonates in so many lives today.

“Who in our lives needs to know that freedom is already available?“

The horrors of human trafficking continue today, and we are called to be voices and advocates for men, women, and children who often can’t even comprehend what it means to be free.

But the deception of not being free isn’t just “out there”; it’s a constant battle inside each of us.

It traps our hearts when we feel we don’t deserve love and grace.

It entangles our minds when we let the world define our worth.

It strips us of peace when we let bitterness overwhelm our souls. What freedoms has this world hidden from us? What exit routes have been diverted because sin has seemed too great? Who in our lives needs to know that freedom is already available?

In Ephesians Paul tell us:

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins” (Ephesians 1:4-7, NLT)

“Even before he made the world . . .” Did you get that? Even before he spoke the world into existence, he created a path to freedom for those he loves (that’s us!). Long before we were born, God had a plan for us. And through Jesus’ death on the cross, the price for that plan was paid in full.

“To speak of Jesus’ blood is an important way of speaking about his death. His death provided two wonderful benefits to us—redemption and forgiveness. Redemption pictures the price paid to gain freedom for a slave (Leviticus 25:47-54).

Through his death, Jesus paid the price to release us from slavery to sin and its devastating consequences. Forgiveness was granted in Old Testament times on the basis of the shedding of animals’ blood (Leviticus 17:11). Now we are forgiven on the basis of the shedding of Jesus’ blood—he died as the perfect and final sacrifice (see Romans 5:9; Ephesians 2:13; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 9:22; 1 Peter1:19). We have been freed from every restraint so that we can live fully and become all he intended us to be” (Note on Ephesians 1:7 from the Life Application Study Bible).

Are we living in that freedom?

Has the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice been translated so we can fully understand what his death means for the entire human race?

And if the answer for us individually is yes, who else do we need to tell that they are free?

The signs that we are free are all around us, but sometimes we don’t understand or don’t believe it can be true. May we live out the truth of Scripture in our daily lives.

Let us be the translation of God’s grace to those who feel as though there is no way out. Let’s open the gates and lead others to true freedom in Christ.

“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free” (John 8:36, NLT).

WHAT A BIBLE! The Life Application Study Bible has over 10,000 in-depth notes and resources that take the Bible off the page and into your life. You’ll take a deep dive into historical information, cultural context, and tenets of the Christian faith, but the extensive scholarship in this Bible doesn’t stop there. Taking it a step further, it helps you apply what you are learning to your life today.

Can’t get enough of this particular Bible! Nearly all the thousands of notes take readers on a three-step journey to read, study, and apply Scripture to life. With Bible knowledge and application in one place, the Life Application Study Bible helps you go beyond just knowing about the Bible to understanding how to live it out. No other study Bible provides the same combination of context, history, and extensive application. You’ll not only understand the meaning of Scripture but also be transformed, living its truth in your life every day.

{Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotional.}