Oct 11, 2020
Good Morning Fellow Travelers,
Read: 1 Cor 15:50-57
“Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? (Psa 56:12-13)
It was in prison that I discovered that men can be free even though they are bound. I would go to prison each week for Bible studies with the incarcerated and there I found men who were free in spirit and soul.
The opposite is also true. There are men who are not in a strong structure with barbed wire, who are free to live at home, but are bound by the chains of sin. Humans shackled in a physical prison can sometimes by their shrewdness and creativity escape by filing away irons or bars. However, men and women who are bound by the chains of sin cannot escape regardless of their strength or craftiness.
For example, an individual will make a new year’s resolution to stop indulging in pornography. But in only a few weeks they are again enslaved by these chains of immorality. Another individual will try to kick a drug or alcohol habit with sheer willpower only to find that the habit returns with a vengeance. When a marriage is on the rocks a husband or wife may decide to work on their anger and frustration problem only to find out that in just a few days they blow up again.
Another truth about sin and its consequences is that it binds tighter and tighter. The chains get stronger and harder to break. Someone has said that…”Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” But thankfully there is a remedy for this problem.
The scriptures say… “Forasmuch then as ‘people’ are partakers of flesh and blood, ‘Jesus’ also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15). These Bible verses show us that we as humans are in bondage to sin and Satan. The only way to be free from a lifestyle of sin is to call out to Jesus and He will rescue us from this terrible prison.
Wherever you are today God knows. He knows exactly where you are physically and spiritually and is longing to help. You can kneel or stand where you are and acknowledge, confess, and repent of your sins. He will forgive, cleanse, and deliver you from the binding chains of sin and Satan and give you a new heart and a new life.
How free you are from the chains of sin is going to depend on your faith and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus as King of your life. Jesus died on the cross, shed His precious sin free blood, and resurrected from the grave the third day to destroy the works of Satan in your life. The power to be free is available. Total surrender to Jesus means total victory and freedom from all sinful habits and ways. Praise God!
~ Harold Troyer
