Chains are not a fashion statement

Now that I have my political remarks out of the way....

Lately, God has been dealing with me about something and it has lay a little dormant in my heart for a while and was stirred again in church this morning. I may have discussed it here before, but indulge me a bit more please.

The Bible says that before we come to know Christ as our Savior we are slaves to sin. Think about what a slave is, especially in the day of Jesus and even just a hundred years ago or so. A slave usually was bound in some fashion, wearing steel chains and cuffs around his ankles and wrists. Slaves were beaten to encourage work and to punish laziness. Underfed, unappreciated, mocked, ridiculed and threatened with their life, I can only imagine that the souls of these people were filled with hopelessness and even utter disdain for their own lives. In our country's history, when slavery was abolished, the chains and cuffs were unlocked and for the first time, people of a different race could see the light of freedom ahead. Many dark days still loomed for these people (please read The Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Taylor for insight), at least the chains that had once bound their physical bodies were gone.

God has been dealing with me about my own slavery. I was great at constructing it. Sin upon sin, lies upon lies, all as strong as iron weighing me down, wrapped around my limbs controlling my movements and how I felt and viewed the world. With one Name, those chains broke apart allowing me to walk in freedom. What a feeling!! A whole world to run and jump, but at the same time, a desire to please my Hero with my life. But, as I ran I noticed the world hadn't changed. Only me and others who had met my Hero and soon, whether it was to fit in or because it just felt comfortable, I put on those chains again. It was very hard to wear them now though, way harder than before. The locks were broken and when I walked, they would fall and hit uncalloused skin and make new wounds.

Lately, God has been asking me this: Why would you choose to wear chains when you are free? I can say without a doubt, that if I were to offer the heavy chains of an American slave to them to wear after they had been freed, they would laugh at me and run the other way. Why do I have a different response? When Jesus, my Hero spoke freedom in my life, he broke the chains of fear, condemnation, death, self-loathing, hate and sin. But, everyday, I pick them back up. Fear over flying....fear that another person I love will be taken from me....condemnation for my challenges and short comings.....death of dreams and of my purpose in Christ....self-loathing that turns into reverse pride where I am of no use in Christ's cause....hate of others that I don't know or aren't like me.....sin....over and over again...sin. The Bible says in John 8:36, "If the Son has set you free then you are free indeed". I'm going to post this verse all over my house to remind me that chains don't work when they've been broken and that although true freedom is out of style and chains are in, I bear a new mark of forgiveness and new life in Christ. I challenge you too, to examine this week what chains you have been freed from and ones you keep picking back up. If you've never met the Hero who can and will break your slave chains, send me a comment and I would be overjoyed to introduce you....