Words by our Priest-in-Charge:
Breaking Free
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom).2 Corinthians 3:17 (Amplified)
We have 3 dogs in the house. Most of the times we keep them within the compound of the house. For quite sometimes, we have not let them go out from the compound. There was once, after a long time of such restricted freedom, we let them go out through the main gate of the house. They wandered about for approximately 15 minutes and decided to return to their “confined” space within the compound of the house. Came evening time, we put them to the back of the house when we offered food to them. We discover every time after such an episode, they would be more restless and more eager to go out of the house again. They would try all sorts of ways, including digging under the fence, biting through the wire of the fencing, etc in order to attain that freedom which they have tasted.
Jesus has come to bring us freedom from all sorts of bondages through the finished work of the Cross and by His Holy Spirit. For a person who has lived under bondages for a long time, the desire of being free may not, sometime, be very compelling. However, once he has tasted the freedom that Jesus brings him in whatever measure, the desire would increase and intensify. Once we have a foretaste of freedom in Christ, we would naturally want more.
The Lord is ready, willing and able to set us free from the entanglement of sins and bondages of the past, which controls, at times, even “dictate” our actions and reactions. To experience freedom in Christ is not a onetime experience, but a journey of being set free in increasing measure. The Lord will first and foremost reveal to us the truth concerning ourselves and our deep seated needs. As He reveals, He brings us into freedom in that area of our lives. The journey of receiving freedom from Jesus is not a passive one. We must desire freedom, determine to have it and enter into it. The people of Israel cried out to God in Egypt. The Lord by His own hands supernaturally delivered them from the oppression of Pharaoh. Yet, when the going got tough in the desert, they did not desire freedom in the Promised Land, but longed to return to the familiarity of bondage in Egypt – the confined space in their past.
If you are finding life after becoming a Christian or tasted freedom in Christ is tough, be encouraged. You are not abnormal! Choose this day and determine never to return to the familiarity of bondages in the past any more. God has a perfect plan for your life. He desires you to break free from bondages of your past, your flesh and walk free. Choose freedom. Choose to stay free, and enter into your rest in the Lord.