By Paul Chappell
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
Galatians 5:1
Charles Spurgeon used this parable to illustrate the bondage
of sin. He said, “There was once a tyrant who summoned one of his subjects into
his presence and ordered him to make a chain. The poor blacksmith—that was his
occupation—had to go to work and forge the chain. When it was done, he brought
it into the presence of the tyrant and was ordered to take it away and make it
twice the length. He brought it again to the tyrant, and again he was ordered
to double it. Back he came when he had obeyed the order, and the tyrant looked
at it then commanded the servants to bind the man hand and foot with the chain
he had made and cast him into prison.”
Spurgeon continued with an application. “That is what the
devil does with men. He makes them forge their own chain, and then binds them
hand and foot with it and casts them into outer darkness.”
Every sin places us in bondage to the enemy. We hear in
religious circles today about freedom, but too often those who use the word use
it wrongly because they do not understand the danger of sin. In many cases,
they speak of being free to sin, rather than being made free from sin.
We who know the Lord have been made free from sin. But
Christian liberty does not entitle us to do wrong. That is the path back into
bondage. Think about the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. Again
and again they complained against Moses and against God. They often said, “We
wish we were back in Egypt .”
In Egypt
they were slaves and their male children were killed at birth. Why would they
want to go back to such awful circumstances? Yet when we choose to sin, we are
placing similar chains of bondage on ourselves.
Today's Rooted Principle:
Do not allow the devil to enslave you through sin and steal
away the freedom Christ purchased for you.
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