Release From Captivity

Release From Captivity

You are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Romans 6:18

We are all slaves to something or someone. And every slave has a master. The question is, do we have the right master? In today’s verse, Paul alludes to our former enslavement to sin, even as he reminds us that Jesus came to unlock our chains and set us free.

One of my biggest regrets is that I never looked for the key to unlock the chains that kept me enslaved to my career. Because I grew up in a poor family, I felt a lot of pressure to work hard and provide for Karen and our four children so that they wouldn’t struggle the same way I had growing up.

But there were times when I took that sense of obligation to the extreme, often working more than eighty hours a week. And even then I felt pressure to work longer. No one was forcing me to do this; it was all self-imposed. I rationalized my overwork by saying I was merely doing what God had created me to do.

The problem was that God had also created me to be a husband and father. But I was trying to serve two wrong masters: my career and my family. Each time I gave in to one, it seemed to take away from the other. If, instead, I had focused on serving God—both at work and at home—I would not have been enslaved to my own, or someone else’s, expectations. I would have been free.

Are you caught in the same tug-of-war? Is the rat race enslaving you to the point of physical or emotional exhaustion?

If so, push back. Claim the freedom to serve Christ and Christ alone. Service to Jesus is never about being chained or enslaved. Serving him is an expression of our love and gratitude to him for freeing us from our enslavement to sin.

Only recently have I been able to unchain myself from unhealthy ways of thinking and embrace freedom. As a result, I’ve set sail on a new course. I urge you to join me. Seek the only master who is worth serving, and he will set you free.

TODAY’S RX

If you must strive for more, strive for more of God—and allow him to truly set you free.

Father, what a relief it is to know that a life pleasing to you is not one of constant strife and struggle. I rejoice in the freedom to walk in your ways, released from the bondage of sin. Thank you for your great love for me.