When Fear Melts Into Freedom
A small little bird was trapped in a net ball containing bird food near our back window. It was fluttering about trying to escape. We went out to help it, but when it saw us coming, it chirped furiously in panic. We pulled down the net ball, bird attached, and held it gently, speaking softly to the little guy. At this point he was listless and tired from trying to escape, for perhaps hours. We carefully and gently cut the net from around its legs and gently set it on the picnic table. It immediately flew away in freedom.
Its initial panic eventually yielded to let one much more powerful, yet gentle, release it from bondage.
When God sees us trapped, we often struggle to escape by our own devices, yet we consistently fail until we yield to God's gentle and gracious power to release us. Only then do we find true freedom.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1, NIV).
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29, NIV).
Freedom Is Not A Luxury
On September 18, 2014, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke to a joint-session of the United States Congress. It was an impassioned plea, from beginning to end, as he spoke in his broken English about the trials his people have endured for many months now in the face of Russian aggression. He gave poignant examples of brave men who have been killed for their courageous stand against ruthless enemies.
In his imploring call for help, he invoked our own past path as a nation and our pursuit of liberty. It was then that he exclaimed, "Let's show them that freedom is not a luxury (as some try to convince them), but a necessity – and a precondition for the true success of a nation!"
In the spiritual sense, this stated idea is most true and important. Sin is a horrible dictator and master, brutalizing and bringing death to those who are under its power. Eternity is in the balance for us. Will we leave this life as free men and women or as slaves? What makes this so much more paramount is that it is harder to discern spiritual bondage than physical bondage. We may think ourselves perfectly free, all the while toiling in the chains of darkness!
Paul made his own impassioned plea to the saints at Galatia, when he wrote, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1).
Can you imagine a nation or even an individual who had endured torture and seen loved ones murdered, now enjoying the rights and privileges of freedom, but voluntarily returning to that former way of life?
It is unthinkable, unless we speak in the spiritual sense. There we find people running back to embrace the enslaver of souls. To them we would exclaim, "Freedom is not a luxury ... It is a necessity--and a precodition for the true success" of spiritual life!
Escaped Dolphin Do Tricks for Food
(Universal Press Syndicate) Three trained dolphins escaped from their performing pen at a resort in Key Largo, Fla. They were discovered several days later in a lagoon off Key Biscayne, some 55 miles distant. At 10am, 2pm and 4pm they performed tricks, apparently hopping to be fed on their Key Largo show schedule.
The Sun-Sentinel reported that passing boaters were only too happy to oblige and feed the talented performers.
Though freed, these dolphins continued to live and function as though they were still in bondage. Sound familiar?
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).