Comfortable in Captivity? The above three words seem like an oxymoron, dont they? Who in their right mind would be comfortable in captivity? Unfortunately there are many who are precisely that. Captivity has become their comfort zone and they refuse to even try to find a way to freedom. A spiritual Stockholm Syndrome if you will. Some even crave physical captivity because they simply cannot cope with freedom. When my son was incarcerated ever so briefly, though it felt like an eternity for both him and me, there was an inmate there who had become so accustomed to the prison regimen that every time he was released, he would go out and commit another (usually worse) crime to get a longer sentence. (I simply cant make this stuff up really) I honestly thought my son was kidding when he told me about this guy. But no. And I felt a deep sadness for this person.but my son said to me not to waste my sadness on him for this is the life he chose. I still cannot help but think of him and feel a deep sadness come over me. Because freedom has been his and he chose not to take it. And that is not only mind-boggling, it is sad and shameful. Many Christians do the very same thing. They claim the Lord Jesus Christ and if they have truly accepted His death, burial and resurrection as payment for sin, and they have turned from a life of sin to a life of Him, then yes they are saved. But they sure dont live like they are. They say they are forgiven but they do not accept Gods forgiveness. And they walk around in bondage, needlessly so. But keeping us in bondage, even those who call themselves Christian, is one of Satans favorite tactics, and worst of all, one of his minor objectives. His main objective is to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came to give us life, not just life, but life abundant. (John 10:10) And how many prefer to remain in the chains of past sin that has been long forgiven? Those chains should be broken and we should be walking in freedom, and sadly, many dont. Oh theres a million excuses out there. God cant forgive me. What I did was too terrible. Im not good enough for Him, He will never accept me, the list goes on. Then on the other side of the coin are the legalists that think they dont need life from Jesus because they already know it all because they study the Scriptures, but do not make Him a part of their lives. John 5:39-40 addresses those who are bound by legalism~ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. That is like reading every recipe in a recipe book and not bothering to try out a single dish to see if the recipes are any good. For those who think they are too bad to receive forgiveness and that they deserve to walk around in bondage (I admit I was guilty of this for years) I humbly submit for your approval or not~ Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORDS hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. Believe it or not, God is willing to forgive you no matter what your sin is. There isnt a single sin that Jesus did not die for, except for egregious unbelief. God doesnt want us walking around in bondage and neither should we. For those who will accept it, He offers beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Sounds like a pretty good trade to me. How about you? Are you willing to give up your guilt for sins that have been forgiven already and take a walk in the fresh air of freedom? Lay those chains aside, they have weighed you down long enough. ~God loves you and so do I ~
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 03:12:14 +0000
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