CHANGE VERSUS CHAINS
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Isa. 61:1, R.S.V.
Is it possible to tame a wild animal? Certainly some have done so. Others have tried and failed. But I am sure of one thing: If the animal has its leg caught in a crushing trap, taming is out of the question, at least until the beast has been freed and brought to some degree of comfort.
What about the vicious German shepherd tied at the end of a fifty-foot chain in the neighbor's yard? "Good thing!" you might express. "He's just plain mean!" Then one day you notice he's gone. "Sold him," your neighbor tells you, "to a boy's ranch." The wisdom of such a decision leaves you reeling! "How could you!" you exclaim involuntarily. "Aren't you afraid he'll chew somebody up?" Then you learn that the dog has the run of the ranch, sleeps on the boys' beds at night, and is as tame as a yearling. You go away shaking your head. But it was not natural for the dog to live at the end of a chain. He was meant to be free. All the energy that could not escape in wholesome ways displayed itself in ferociousness.
Are we any different? Bound by the guilt we feel for the wrongs we have done, our behavior may be only slightly more acceptable than the shepherd's. God knows that we cannot respond to Him until we are loosed. So He sets us free from the crushing weight of our guilt, binds up our broken hearts, and tells us that we need no longer be chained to our sins. Then He draws us to Himself. Well might we exclaim with David, "Set me free from my prison, so that I may praise thy name" (Ps. 142:7, N.E.B.).
It isn't a trade-off or bribe; it's reality. We are no more able to praise God while crushed with a sense of guilt than is the wild animal able to be tamed while caught in the trap! Chained to our sins, we snarl and lunge at life. God comes to take our guilt upon Himself, and He says, "I do not condemn you. You may go; you do not need to sin anymore" (see John 8:11). And because He does not demand "taming" before healing, we know we can trust Him. Even more, we are free to love Him.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Isa. 61:1, R.S.V.
Is it possible to tame a wild animal? Certainly some have done so. Others have tried and failed. But I am sure of one thing: If the animal has its leg caught in a crushing trap, taming is out of the question, at least until the beast has been freed and brought to some degree of comfort.
What about the vicious German shepherd tied at the end of a fifty-foot chain in the neighbor's yard? "Good thing!" you might express. "He's just plain mean!" Then one day you notice he's gone. "Sold him," your neighbor tells you, "to a boy's ranch." The wisdom of such a decision leaves you reeling! "How could you!" you exclaim involuntarily. "Aren't you afraid he'll chew somebody up?" Then you learn that the dog has the run of the ranch, sleeps on the boys' beds at night, and is as tame as a yearling. You go away shaking your head. But it was not natural for the dog to live at the end of a chain. He was meant to be free. All the energy that could not escape in wholesome ways displayed itself in ferociousness.
Are we any different? Bound by the guilt we feel for the wrongs we have done, our behavior may be only slightly more acceptable than the shepherd's. God knows that we cannot respond to Him until we are loosed. So He sets us free from the crushing weight of our guilt, binds up our broken hearts, and tells us that we need no longer be chained to our sins. Then He draws us to Himself. Well might we exclaim with David, "Set me free from my prison, so that I may praise thy name" (Ps. 142:7, N.E.B.).
It isn't a trade-off or bribe; it's reality. We are no more able to praise God while crushed with a sense of guilt than is the wild animal able to be tamed while caught in the trap! Chained to our sins, we snarl and lunge at life. God comes to take our guilt upon Himself, and He says, "I do not condemn you. You may go; you do not need to sin anymore" (see John 8:11). And because He does not demand "taming" before healing, we know we can trust Him. Even more, we are free to love Him.
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