LOCKED UP

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Ever been locked up?

I sadly can say I have had that wonderful pleasure a time or two. 

There is nothing quite like sitting with 2 to 40 of your closest friends in a holding tank while you sleep off or mull over the choices that you just made knowing you have just sacrificed your FREEDOM for something trite and misguided.

And I will admit, whether a night in the "drunk tank" or a weekend in the “treatment alternative” I was so thankful to be “out” once it was over. It reminded me of that 80’s hair-band song, “You Don’t Know What You Got Til It’s Gone.”

Not a fun experience at all.

Yet as I reminisce about all those “good” times I got to thinking. Many of us choose to get “locked up” almost daily.

Bad choices.  Poor judgments. Sin solutions.

We do things, say things, and choose things that damage our FREEDOM in Christ sometimes without even considering the damage; considering the consequences.

Galatians 5:13

...don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom.

But isn’t that true sometimes?  We choose sin over and over again ignoring its fallout and its incarcerating power. Jesus said it this way.

John 8:34

Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can’t come and go at will.

In other words, sinful choices serve to “lock us up!”

Many times the sin starts small like we covered in Monday’s DISPATCH.  The process starts off subtly with a desire for something. We might give in a little, and the yearning starts growing stronger. At first, our conscience warns us, and we might confess the sin. But we give in again and begin to justify our actions. In time, if this cycle continues, the sting of conscience gradually weakens until we no longer feel it. At that point, we are locked up.

And while we always equate this “locked up condition” to the biggie sins (porn, dope, adultery, and such) all sin eventually locks us up!

It damages emotions, divides the mind, instills fear, guilt and insecurity, and creates hopelessness.

But I have GOOD NEWS today.  I know the ONE who has the keys to this lock up and HIS NAME IS JESUS! His TRUTH can set us FREE!

John 8:32

He said…“If you keep and obey My Word, then you are My followers for sure. You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”

Praise God—Jesus can UNLOCK the doors to our sinful cells!

John 8:36

…if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

So today evaluate those choices you are making.  Do they advance this FREE LIFE Jesus has promised or are they just tickets to the lock up?

Choose FREEDOM today!

 

I love you all…

Freedom Church