Thought- We are all slaves to something. What is enslaving you?
Scripture- “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” – 2 Corinthians 3:17
Insight: In day 20 of learning to apply biblical principles to our daily life, what we are referring to as Practical Christianity, let’s consider what it means to have true freedom from sin due to our relationship with Jesus Christ. There are different types of Freedom, but the one common element of freedom is that we have bee released from our enslavement to whatever had been keeping us in bondage. Jesus releases us from our bondage to sin. As a Country, next week we celebrate our Independence Day when we broke free from the tyranny and heavy taxation of British rule. It took courage and strength and fearlessness to fight the battles that needed to be fought for us to secure this most treasured of earthly prizes- Freedom! But although we are free as a group of individuals to pursue our desires, to pray and worship freely, to love and to cherish the beliefs that make us special as a Nation, we must admit there are still many walking among us who are not free at all. They are walking in spiritual bondage! They are captive to an evil, oppressive occupier of their minds, hearts and souls and in many cases, they are not even aware of their bondage.
See, we are all captives to whatever is enslaving us. For all of us were slaves to our sin before Christ set us free. In John 8:34 -36 Jesus puts it this way: “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Many people I meet, are enslaved by the remedies they are using to deal with their pain, insecurity or fear. I can certainly relate. Before I gave my life to Christ and found true and unending freedom, I was enslaved to anything and everything that could temporarily numb my pain and take away my fears. The list included alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling. You name it, I tried it. The problem is, when that temporary buzz wears off, the pain or loneliness we feel is only more magnified. Only Christ offers lasting freedom from those things that enslave us. True freedom is found nowhere else, for all those other remedies are temporary elixirs. Jesus’s forgiveness, love and truth are what set us permanently free. As the scripture above says, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” No more wars will ever be necessary, for the war has been won by Christ! There is nothing else that can ever compare. Have you asked him to help you find the freedom you are looking for?
Prayer: Father God, there are lots of reasons for us to be fearful. Our wounds are so deep and cause so much pain. We struggle knowing where we can turn. You are the only ONE who can truly set us free. Help us to find the courage to realize that apart from you, there is nothing that can ever satisfy what our souls are longing for. Give us the strength to stop striving for our own answers and simply to trust in You! We pray this in Jesus name. Amen!
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