Captivity Or Freedom?

Get out! Get out and leave your captivity, where everything you touch is unclean. Get out of there and purify yourselves, you who carry home the sacred objects of the LORD.

Isaiah 52:11

ARE YOU A CAPTIVE? Try this exercise: Think of the things you’ve done in the past week that you know displeased God. Now narrow the list down to those things that were a first for you. In other words, consider how many of your sins are areas where you find yourself stumbling over and over. We may fool ourselves into thinking we’ll be stronger next time, but that’s what we said last time. The truth is that we tend to repeat our sins because we don’t take the radical steps needed to prevent a “next time.”

Jesus paid a high price for our freedom. Though we’ve been given the opportunity to enjoy this freedom, we have to take action to actually become free. It seems foolish to sit in a dark dungeon for no reason, yet that’s essentially what we do when we don’t make the changes needed to break our sinful habits.

In Jeremiah 14:10, God points out that part of our problem is that we don’t restrain our feet. “You love to wander far from me.” Later, He pronounces judgment on those who haven’t changed their ways: “I will winnow you like grain” (Jeremiah 15:7).

Men, this message is for us. Now is the time to remove the things from our lives that present temptations or distractions. Let today’s verse be an encouragement to get serious about dealing with the areas that trip us up. Remember, we have a model in Jesus and the promise of His help. Lasting change is possible. There’s no reason to become hopeless that we’ll never change; there’s no reason to remain as captives.

BOTTOM LINE

List the areas that tend to trip you up. Pray through your list, then take the courageous step to make the necessary changes.

Moment of Strength: 1 Samuel 7:3