Former Blackout Artist

“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” – Ephesians 3:12

My father-in-law will be 102 next week. He’s never owned a computer. That still blows my mind. And then there are my kids -unable to imagine a world without cellphones. They don’t remember life before instant access, because they’ve never known anything else.

I think about that when I read this verse.

Part of why I take this freedom for granted is that I’ve never known what it was like to be without it. I’ve never stood outside the presence of God while someone else went in on my behalf. I’ve never lived under a system of priests, sacrifices, and curtains that kept ordinary people at a distance. If I had known what it felt like to be shut out, I’d probably feel the gift of access more deeply.

But there’s more to it than that.

I also forget that this access cost Jesus His life. The door didn’t open because God simply decided to relax the rules. It opened because Christ paid for it in blood. I approach God freely because someone else paid dearly – and familiarity has a way of dulling that reality.

And then there’s the quiet assumption that access will always be there. Prayer is easy to postpone. God’s presence feels unlimited. When something is never threatened, it stops feeling fragile, or even precious.

Paul reminds in me Ephesians 3:12 that this freedom isn’t casual. It’s not automatic. It’s given. It’s costly. And it’s still astonishing, even if I’ve grown used to it.

Maybe part of re-experiencing this freedom is remembering what I never had to live without – and what someone else endured so I wouldn’t have to.