Free Indeed!
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
John 8:36
Elephants are powerful creatures, capable of amazing feats of strength, yet trainers can keep them in place with a rope and a small stake in the ground. No chains, no cages.
How is this possible? It’s obvious that the huge animals could, at any time, break free. But they don’t.
Why is that? Why does the elephant allow its freedom to be so limited when that’s not necessary?
In his book Teaching the Elephant to Dance, James Belasco describes how it begins when the elephant is very young. A strong chain is placed around the elephant’s ankle and secured with a formidable stake in the ground.
The young pachyderm will pull and pull and pull until he or she eventually gives up, succumbing to the grip. It becomes conditioned to the status quo.
Later the chain is replaced with a simple rope tied to a small stake – something the elephant could easily break free from. Yet its memory of the past keeps the creature a captive.
Elephants are not the only creatures that can be conditioned this way. Humans face the same limitation.
Chained to the Past
All too many go through life with the mindset that we will always remain shackled to our past. That even though we might be forgiven for it when we asked Christ into our lives, we could never be free from it.
All too many go through life with the mindset that we will always remain shackled to our past. That even though we might be forgiven for it when we asked Christ into our lives, we could never be free from it.
The Evil One, while not being able to prevent our redemption does everything he can to thwart our liberation. He looks to remind us that we are still shackled to the stake of what once was with sneering words such as…
“That’s just the way you are. You can’t be any different.”
“There’s no sense in trying to step into the future. Your past will never allow that.”
Even though we have been set free in Christ…even though we can be different…even though we can have a future…we remember the chain and the stake and think they still hold us captive.
If the Son sets you free
Perhaps this is why Jesus used a small yet powerful word in His “spiritual emancipation proclamation.” “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Allow that last word to sink in. You are free. Not only spiritually. Not simply theologically. You are free INDEED – physically, mentally, and emotionally!
If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Allow that to sink in. You are free. Not only spiritually. Not simply theologically. You are free INDEED – physically, mentally, and emotionally!
Songwriter Charles Wesley captured this in one of the most theologically powerful hymns ever penned. As a young believer, “And Can It Be” reminded me of the assurance of my forgiveness. (CLICK TO LISTEN)
Verse 3 reminded me, especially, of the fullness of my freedom.
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
It’s commonly said that “an elephant never forgets.” Yet while that can serve the animal well on occasion, when it comes to stakes and chains, such a good memory can be enslaving.
Let’s be different. While we may not fully forget the memories of the past, we can determine that they don’t shackle us to the past. We can be free… free indeed!
PRAYER:
Lord, at times I so regret what I once was and how I once lived. And, at times, I’m vulnerable to the accusation and insinuation that the Evil One throws at me. Help me to use those memories as a springboard for praise and thanksgiving. And help me to walk in glorious freedom.
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