You’ve likely had an aha moment when you discovered the truth.
Former first lady, Jackie Kennedy, loved Lisa Gherardini—so much that she arranged for a secret service escort during Gherardini’s visit from France to America in the early 1960s. President Kennedy shared her admiration for this mother of five with dark hair and olive colored skin. While her visit did not last long, Ms. Gherardini’s warmth and inviting nature had a profound impact on everyone who spent time in her presence. **
There is no need to question your knowledge of history. You know Lisa Gherardini as the “La Gioconda”—more commonly, the “Mona Lisa,” painted in the sixteenth century by Leonardo da Vinci.
The crowd listening to Jesus proclaimed they had never been enslaved, so freedom wasn’t a need. Yet Jesus said everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin—and He was there to set them free.
We should have an epiphany when we discover our destructive behavior enslaves us. Yet more important is Jesus’ truth that will set us free. The freedom taught by Christ has nothing to do with earthly bondage but comes with surrendering our life to Him. When that occurs, we will learn life is not our own but belongs to the Potter.
Let God mold and shape your life for His eternal glory.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
** Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Kennedy, (Henry Holt and Company, 2012), 135-137.
Jim McNeff is the author of The Spirit behind Badge 145. He worked in military and civilian law enforcement for thirty-one years. While in the USAF, he flew as a crewmember aboard the National Emergency Airborne Command Post—a presidential support detail. Following his military service, he served for twenty-seven years with the Fountain Valley Police Department in Orange County, California, where he retired as a lieutenant. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Southwest University and graduated from the prestigious Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute as well as the IACP course, Leadership in Police Organizations. Jim is married and has three adult children and three grandchildren. You can contact him at jrmcneff@gmail.com or view his website www.badge145.com which is geared toward encouraging the law enforcement family.