Free…Yet Living in Bondage

Some time ago my husband and I were sitting in our living room. Our puppy had been in her crate for a couple of hours and it was time to let her out. My husband unlocked the door and opened it just a little. We thought she would push the door open and come out but she didn’t. She just sat there not realizing that the door had been opened and she could come out. Sometimes, we don’t realize that we are free from the bondage of sin. We have spent so much time in bondage, when we become free from sin we sometimes continue to live as if we were never free.

Jesus said in John 6:35 ”But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.” The people He was talking to at the time knew what miracles He could do because they were there but yet they still didn’t believe. We as Christians know that God can change our lives. We hear each others testimonies but we don’t ask God to help us with some things in our own lives. Sure, we pray for our finances and our unsaved loved ones. God works miracles in those areas but what about when we mouth off to our husbands? What about when we get an attitude when we can’t get our way?

I have struggled with being mouthy my entire life. No matter how hard I try I couldn’t seem to get it together. It is because I was trying to do it on my own. I got fed up and decided that everyday I would ask God to help me with my mouth and my attitude. I’m not going to act like I just changed overnight but every since I have asked God to help me, it has been easier to control my attitude and my mouth. I knew God could change whatever needed to be changed in my life. But, just like my puppy, I just sat in bondage not realizing the door had been opened the moment I received Christ in my life.

Not only do we continue to live in bondage, we often make excuses for the way we act. Like, “Well, that’s just how I was raised” or “I can’t help it, I have a bad temper”. John 5:1-8 tells us about a man with a similar situation. Jesus was in Jerusalem at the pool of Bethesda. There was an angel that would come down and stir the water in the pool and the first one in while the water was being stirred, would be healed from their infirmities. When Jesus got to the pool, there was a man laying by the pool. He had been sick for 38 years. Jesus saw the man and knew how long he had been sick. Jesus asked the man did he want to be healed. The man told Jesus that there was no one to put him in the pool. Now, Jesus hadn’t asked why the man wasn’t healed. He asked did the man want to be healed. The man gave an excuse as to why he wasn’t healed. Healing was right there for him and he didn’t say he wanted to be healed. Of course we know the man wanted to be healed because he was at the pool waiting to be put in the water. Jesus healed the man and told him to pick up his bed and walk. Even though we make excuses for the way we are, God still has compassion for us. Through His grace and mercy, we can still receive freedom from whatever has us bound.

We have to willingly receive the freedom that Christ has given us. John 6:21 says “Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.” When the disciples received Jesus into their boat, they immediately arrived at their destination. God can put us at our destination of freedom if we’d just receive Him.

So, let’s receive the freedom that God has given us and make the decision that we are not going to live in bondage.

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