“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
What the world calls evil, the saint of God should call good. Oppression is indeed an evil thing; but God is not an oppressor. He invites us to come to Him; He does not drag us. He calls us to take His yoke upon us; He does not force us into submission against our will.
The god of this world would slander the God of heaven, and accuse Him of being the very thing he is himself. Satan promises men great liberty, but brings into great bondage; he accuses God of being the world’s great oppressor, when God is the great Liberator from the devil’s oppressions.
When Jesus came into the world, He declared to the Father: “I delight to do thy will, O my God” (Ps. 40:8). Did He consider submission to God an evil thing? God forbid! It was His joy and delight. In it there was blessing and safety. Did He fight for His “bodily autonomy?” No. The body the Father had prepared for Him was not His own to do with it as He pleased; it was dedicated to the Father and yielded to Him as a “sweet-smelling sacrifice.” He chose not to please Himself, but to always please the Father. He didn’t consider this life of living for the pleasure of God to be evil, or bondage; He deemed it the highest good.
In this day when the name of God is being blasphemed throughout the world, may the saints of God rise up in the exact opposite spirit. May we love and honor the witness of the Son. May we gladly wear the yoke He wore and call it the best thing we do.