An easy way to think about liberty is to think of its opposite, captivity or bondage. What comes to mind when you think of being held captive by something or someone, or when you think of something binding or confining you? Many types of bonds exist in the world, both physical and spiritual. You can be bound down by debt, addiction, or sin, or literally have your hands and feet tied up to where you can’t move.
The important thing to remember is that no matter the bond, no matter the power that may hold you captive; there is someone who wants and desires you to be set free, and who has the power and willingness to do so, our Savior and our Deliverer. Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. I like that visualization; of simply knocking, and then seeing a door opening and leading you out of captivity. If we remember our Savior, humble ourselves and turn to him, he will deliver us from whatever may bind us down and cause us to be heavy.
Liberty has another important aspect that I think we should keep in mind. We usually tend to think of captivity in a kind of cause and effect way; I was free, but now someone has taken me captive. But, there is another way in which liberty works rather than just restorying to us what was once taken. Other than just opening up locked doors we have already passed through, new doors can be opened to infinite possibilities we had never before even considered.
Before we came to this earth, we lived as spirits with our Father in Heaven, who presented a plan for us to come down to earth and receive physical bodies. This was an essential plan for our eternal progression because you are limited to what you can do without a physical body. Receiving a physical body liberated us from the captivity of the limitations of our spirit body; it gave us more opportunities, and new freedoms that we had never before known.
Not only does God want us to retain what he has already given us, but he wants to offer us so much more than what we currently have. I mentioned in my last post that liberty is a description of a home; it is a home in which you are looked after by a loving father who will protect you from those who want to harm you and bind you down, and who will provide you all you need in order to prosper and be blessed with innumerable opportunities.