and the One who walks with me on it.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Slavery

       Slavery, was a ‘black eye’ in the history of North America though it was practiced trading for centuries beforehand in Europe and Asia by many cultures and ‘religions’.  Treatment of immigrants here bordered on slavery as most people never got out of their indentured-ness to become free.  Almost everyone I know today believes slavery is wrong and we abolished it decades ago, but the truth is we still face it daily- in fact, we participate in it.

       Wha’chu talking about?  Ain’t no slavery here!  According to Jesus slavery will remain wherever sin lies, “…Truly, I tell all of you with certainty that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” (Jh. 8:34 ISV)  Well, that pretty well defines us all as slaves because we all sin, so let’s consider this scripture further.  The verb tense is active indicating currently practicing.  Sure we asked for forgiveness when we were saved, so then we stopped sinning, right?

       My own past experience proves that some sins are easily picked back up again and can remain for many years.  Shame and condemnation of self were not enough to stop me from sinning though I often tried.  My own efforts to stop seemed to fail even if they worked for short times.  Certainly, I was still a slave to sin.

       One of the worst sins (to me) kept me in bondage for over 20 years.  Eventually as I kept praying, got closer to the Lord, in His Word more, and surrendered further to Him, that particular sin fell away until one day I realized it wasn’t holding me in bondage anymore.  Jesus Christ had truly made me free- “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (Jh. 8:36)

       Still, I cannot say I am no longer a slave to any sin, but I can say that I am free from the law of sin and death IF I walk in the Spirit (Rom. 8:1,2), and personally, I’ve found ‘walking in the Spirit’ to be the best way to avoid the slavery of sin again.  How to do that all the time is something I am working on, but hopefully with the Lord’s help, it will keep improving.  Meanwhile I try to keep my eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) who is the only source of true freedom.

Do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but yield yourselves to God  For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under Law, but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Law, but under grace? Let it not be! Do you not know that to whom you yield yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to him whom you obey;  Rom. 6:13-16 MKJV

       We feel pity for those who were forced into slavery for we consider it disgraceful.  Yet we daily face the slavery of sin as if it is inconsequential: after all, everyone does it, it is no big deal, I can’t stop, it’s out of my control, I’m only human…  In reality, it is a choice we make every day whether or not we will put ourselves under the master of sin once again or stay/ live/ walk in the Spirit.

 
Oh Lord, help us all to see the chains of sin that still have us in bondage so that we may pray and seek Your assistance to truly live free.
 

The Messiah has set us free
so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom.
So keep on standing firm in it,
and stop putting yourselves under the yoke of slavery again.
Gal. 5:1 ISV