The Freedom of My Chains

I’m a slave.  A servant.

It’s not a slavery that I’ve been born into, forced into,

or even coerced into.  It’s a choice I’ve made.

My Master offered and I accepted.

And there is freedom in my chains!

The Dixie Chicks (I’m not a D.C. fan, but their sound back

in the day was hard to beat J) had a song called

 “Loving Arms” that has the line,

“lately I’ve been longing for the freedom of my chains”.

The song was the cry of a woman’s pain and loneliness

after leaving the promises of marriage to a man who loved her.

Those chains of marriage had given her love, comfort,

and protection -- things that give the heart freedom.

 

The act of giving my life to Jesus Christ is has given me freedom.

A freedom of resting in His love. 

Knowing without doubt that He cares about me, 

and that in His almighty power

is entirely capable of carrying out His will for my life.

When I was watching an online photography class taught by photographer,

Jazmine Star, she quoted her father who said something like this,

“You’re going to be a slave to something.  Either you will be a slave

to brushing your teeth, or you will be a slave to cavities.”

So simple and so true.

We have the choice.

We like to think that we are completely free.

That we are a slave to no one.

But reality says something different.

It goes way beyond brushing your teeth.

It goes deep into human nature.

The fact is, there is evil in this world.

And there is good.

We are on one side or the other.

The chains of the one bring a longing for something more,

of never being satisfied.      Ever.

The chains of freedom bring peace, rest, and joy.

Even when life isn’t going so well.

Jesus is enough.

The first step to this freedom is surrender.

 ^"For God so loved the world that 

he gave his one and only Son [Jesus], 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish 

but have eternal life.

 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

 but to save the world through him.  

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, 

but whoever does not believe stands condemned already 

because they have not believed in the 

name of God’s one and only Son."

John 3:16-18