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)
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Romans 6:16-18 (NIV)
No one likes bondage – at least no one that I know – yet we all continually sin which can lead to it and sin is a relentless, awful master. We will find ourselves yearning for freedom. Yet, Jesus died to set us free from all this bondage. He is the Great Bondage Breaker. We are not to be yoked again by slavery. Oftentimes we seek to break free in our own strength, which is merely weakness, yet in Christ it is Omnipotence. He has all achieving power. We are to humbly go to the Lord for mercy, seeking cleansing – as the leper, the blind man, the woman with the issue of blood, and countless others including me. He not only gives us eternal salvation but freedom as we walk in the here and now. We daily need cleansing at the fountain which runs freely with His mercy and love. If you seek Him, He will be found by you for He casts no one away – all are welcome.
We can be worn out by our wanderings and makings of our own doings. Come to Jesus. As Noah’s hand stretched from the ark was to the dove and brought her back to him, so too Jesus is our resting place. He seeks to bring us back to Himself. The dove was not reprimanded for her wanderings, she was brought into the ark just as she was. Just as we, with all our multitude of sins, will be received – “Only return”. Two gracious words that are music to the prodigal’s ear. He is our heart’s true home.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)