Break Every Chain-Part 2

As I've been dwelling on the "Break Every Chain" topic, I can't help but focus on the fact that chains are ALREADY broken! We are already free....even if we are not walking in the freedom that lies before us.

Let me explain by giving you an analogy. Our family use to have a beagle named Sammy. He was a slow, calm dog...one that enjoyed sleeping about 23 1/2 hours a day. He was not a watchdog of any sorts...in fact, he would have been okay with anyone breaking in as long as they brought him a treat. Sammy was a stark contrast to the psychotic black lab we have now.....but that part is a whole other blog of its own!

When we would let Sammy outside, we would lead him to the edge of the deck where we would fasten his tie out. You see, being a beagle, Sammy would often sniff his way out of our yard, not realizing where he was going. He had to be tied up, for his own protection. For the first few years, we would have to lead him out to the clip to hook him up. The last few years we had him though, he had become so familiar with the pattern that we no longer had to walk him outside with a leash or anything. He would simply walk to the bottom step of the deck and wait for us to attach the hook to his collar.

Did you catch that????

He would stand there and wait for us to tie him up to the outdoor leash. There were days I tested him by not hooking him up. And to my amazement, he just stood there. He looked up at me with hopeful eyes....desperately waiting for me to hook him up. That dog was convinced that he could not walk out into the yard until I attached the outdoor leash to him.

Some days I stood there and said, "You're free! Go out into the yard!" And still. He just stood there, waiting for what he THOUGHT was his freedom.

Then one day I took it a step farther. I brought the hook up to his collar and moved it so it made the "click" sound. BUT....I did not hook him up.

That crazy dog took off into the yard, thinking he was hooked up. But, again...to my amazement, he stayed in his little circle. He acted like he was still tied out.

Sammy was given freedom. His chains were taken off...literally. I tried to coax him into the yard where he normally wouldn't be allowed to go. But all these times I tried, he did not believe he was truly free until he had the chains on him.

Now I bet you're already seeing the spiritual application here.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He has ALREADY taken the burden from us. He has already given us the freedom.

The key is we, like Sammy, have to choose to walk in the freedom.

And just because Jesus has given us the freedom, doesn't mean that the enemy won't tempt us. Of course he will! He will make those chains seem appealing. He will convince us that they are part of us...that we need them. He will try to keep us in our little comfort zone of where the chains keep us. He will try to keep us from breaking out into the freedom that Christ has given to us.

But the key here is that he doesn't force us to take those chains.

We choose it.

We decide if we are going to keep putting those chains on each and every day. And once we do put them on, they restrict us. They weigh us down. They keep us from being the men and women of God that we need to be.

But there are no locks on the chains.

We aren't stuck with them. At any point we can put them down and choose to walk in freedom.

But like Sammy, we have to choose it. I couldn't do anything to convince that dog that he truly was free. He still felt bound by the pattern of being chained up so long. He felt a version of what he THOUGHT was freedom when I did hook him up. But that wasn't real freedom.

Your chains may feel like a mountain so high that you could never get rid of them. Your chains may feel so familiar to you that you aren't ready to give them all up. Your chains may be more than you ever imagine you can defeat.

But you can do it. Not on your own, though. You can do it with God's help.

How do I know this? Well, because I picked up my own chains for so many years and carried them with me each and every day. They were heavy. They restricted me. They kept me from doing the things God wanted me to do. They were chains of depression, anorexia, suicide...to name a few....

Yes, my past isn't pretty. But with those chains removed, God has painted a beautiful masterpiece with my life.

And it's not a complete masterpiece yet. I have a few more chains that the enemy still tempts me to wear each day. BUT....each and every day I make it a goal to

BREAK. EVERY. CHAIN.

every chain.