We are meant to be spiritually free. It’s why Jesus came to us, dying on the cross, and bringing us salvation.
What part should captivity have in our lives?
Israel faced this question in the most literal way. She was taken away, bound in chains by the Romans. According to Josephus, the 1st century Romano-Jewish scholar, 97,000 Jews were sold to slave dealers for a trifle.
Joel 3:3 says:
“And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.”
The value of the Jewish slaves was so low the Romans could offer a Jewish slave boy as payment for a night of pleasure, and a Jewish slave girl for all the wine they could consume.
Do we sometimes feel that’s us? Our lives have us bound in chains. We’ve been sold to the slave-mongers of this world, and tied to greed, excess, and social position. We can’t get free. Instead, we find our self-respect traded for a night of partying, and our morals compromised for financial advancement.
The world has cast lots for our souls, and we are being sold off to the highest bidder.
How can we break out of our captivity? We find our strength in the Lord.
Joel 3:16 says:
“The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”
The true power of God was revealed in the birth, life, and death of our Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, who came giving us an example of a life truly lived in love and compassion for his fellow man. When we place our faith in him, his voice will thunder over that which holds us captive; the chains of captivity will be broken; and we will become spiritually free.
It’s what we were created to be.
We find our freedom in Christ, for he breaks all the chains that bind us to the world.
Copyright © 2015 MyChurchNotes.net
Originally Published 10-17-15 in Hope