are you a slave?
Do you know what it feels like to be a slave? Have you ever felt that loss of control? Have you ever felt unable to escape? Have you ever felt owned? Have you ever felt like you were powerless to make your own choices - even as part of you desperately wanted to? I think we have all been slaves to something. Some of us blissfully unaware. Some of us in desperate struggles. Some of us have been freed.
Maybe you are a slave to your job. Maybe it's all you can think about. Even when you aren't working - it follows you. You don't have normal conversations, instead you promote. You can't relax because you must always look professional. Your phone is always on.
Maybe you are a slave to sex. You don't even know the person you wake up next to. You told yourself you weren't going to do that again. It just happened. Work is simply something to get through, relationships are a distant memory - you just want to find your next partner.
Maybe you are a slave to your child. They are at school now, but still all you can think about. You can't spend time with friends, you have to prepare for your child's arrival. You can't spend time in the bible, you have to go visit the kid's school. You aren't a name anymore. You are mom.
Maybe you are a slave to addiction. All you can think about is your next hit of ________. You're daydreaming about it now. Maybe you can leave work. Maybe you are sick today. Maybe you can go somewhere on your lunch break. Maybe nobody can tell. Does it matter if they can tell? You need it now. You're starting to itch - you have to scratch the itch. That itch will kill you.
I've been a slave. To one thing or another. But I think the best classification for the things we are slave to is sin. And perhaps the more precise form of sin is idolatry.
It's not the object itself. Jobs aren't a bad thing. Sex is great. Kids are a blessing. Addiction is a form of worship. But the problem is - when we begin to worship THESE things instead of something lasting. There is something fulfilling that we can worship. There is something healing that we can be addicted to. Something that won't give an itch - that won't make us thirsty again. It is a living water.
Jesus. Jesus has set us free from slavery. And if we choose him first, if we put him before the job, before sex, before kids, before our addiction: he can redeem it. But we have to put him first. We have to want him. We have to choose him. We have to acknowledge our slavery. We have to want to be freed.
But many of us choose to remain slaves.
That's our identity. That's how we know oursleves. Sometimes that's how others know us. It is our source of comfort. It is our source of worship. It is our religion. It is our hope. To get rid of it - well, it would be a little bit like death.
That's right. You must die to yourselves to follow Christ. You must let your old life pass away to begin a new life. A free life. It sounds drastic, but then again - living a life of slavery by choice - that sounds crazy. Perhaps it's time for a drastic measure.
Maybe you are a slave to your job. Maybe it's all you can think about. Even when you aren't working - it follows you. You don't have normal conversations, instead you promote. You can't relax because you must always look professional. Your phone is always on.
Maybe you are a slave to sex. You don't even know the person you wake up next to. You told yourself you weren't going to do that again. It just happened. Work is simply something to get through, relationships are a distant memory - you just want to find your next partner.
Maybe you are a slave to your child. They are at school now, but still all you can think about. You can't spend time with friends, you have to prepare for your child's arrival. You can't spend time in the bible, you have to go visit the kid's school. You aren't a name anymore. You are mom.
Maybe you are a slave to addiction. All you can think about is your next hit of ________. You're daydreaming about it now. Maybe you can leave work. Maybe you are sick today. Maybe you can go somewhere on your lunch break. Maybe nobody can tell. Does it matter if they can tell? You need it now. You're starting to itch - you have to scratch the itch. That itch will kill you.
I've been a slave. To one thing or another. But I think the best classification for the things we are slave to is sin. And perhaps the more precise form of sin is idolatry.
It's not the object itself. Jobs aren't a bad thing. Sex is great. Kids are a blessing. Addiction is a form of worship. But the problem is - when we begin to worship THESE things instead of something lasting. There is something fulfilling that we can worship. There is something healing that we can be addicted to. Something that won't give an itch - that won't make us thirsty again. It is a living water.
Jesus. Jesus has set us free from slavery. And if we choose him first, if we put him before the job, before sex, before kids, before our addiction: he can redeem it. But we have to put him first. We have to want him. We have to choose him. We have to acknowledge our slavery. We have to want to be freed.
But many of us choose to remain slaves.
That's our identity. That's how we know oursleves. Sometimes that's how others know us. It is our source of comfort. It is our source of worship. It is our religion. It is our hope. To get rid of it - well, it would be a little bit like death.
That's right. You must die to yourselves to follow Christ. You must let your old life pass away to begin a new life. A free life. It sounds drastic, but then again - living a life of slavery by choice - that sounds crazy. Perhaps it's time for a drastic measure.
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