break free from those chains of bondage

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which

Christ has made us free, and do not be

entangled again with a yoke of bondage."

(Galatians 5:1)

When elephants are being trained in the circus, they are chained and shackled to a stake when they are just babies. The chains are strong enough at that point to restrain them and keep them from breaking free. As they pull and tug on the chain to no avail, they soon learn that their efforts are futile and soon they don't resist the chains as much.

As they grow bigger and stronger, the chains and shackles don't have to be exchanged for more powerful ones. The elephants have grown so used to the chains holding them, that they just assume that they can't escape and therefore they don't even try.

Do we live like that at times? Are we letting the chains and shackles of this world tether us so tightly to those areas of sin and strongholds in our lives, that we have ceased to even tug and pull on them in any attempt to break free?

Have we grown so comfortable in our bondage that we are living defeated and hopeless lives?

Oh, my sweet friends, I think the answer to those questions is a resounding "yes!". I think that we have grown so accustomed to our chained-up state that we just sit back and remain shackled to sin.

Why do we choose to live as captives when we have been given the glorious key to freedom?  As Christians, our battle has already been fought and won for us. Our state of bondage was overcome on the Cross at Calvary.

God freed us from the chains of sin and gave us  Hope through the shed blood of His Son.  When Jesus gave up His life for us, the sacrifice He made was to atone for our sins forever. Those chains of bondage were broken that day and we were given the ability to live victoriously through Jesus.

Whatever is holding you hostage and is binding you up in those chains, isn't worth it.  Whatever is defeating you, burdening you and weighing you down, is keeping you from living in the freedom of a life of Hope and Victory. You will be forever tethered to that dismal and defeated existence unless you allow God to remove the chains so you can be set free!

Oh, my friends, surrender it to Him and let Him loosen those shackles so they fall off. Confess it and lay it at His feet. Repent of it and arise from there washed anew with His mercy and grace. Free from those chains of captivity. Under bondage no more!

Praise You, Jesus. Praise You, that we have the ability to live a life of freedom. We can walk in victory. We have hope. We can be loosed from the things that bind us and experience the true, abundant life that you intend for us.

Oh, Lord help us to walk in the Spirit. Help us to walk in your ways, obey your commandments and be free from the bondage of the world. Thank you, Lord, the because of Your Son, we can be set free from sin and the ties that bind us. We can live in the freedom and victory of a life in Christ.

"And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness"

(Romans 6:18)