A friend of mine has been a doctor for many years. I once asked him what the toughest part of his job was. He said, “There are people who are sick, and could get better, but they refuse to accept that they have any need to change. It’s heartbreaking.”
I suspect that Jesus Christ had the same kind of heartbreak as He walked the earth. In John 8:31-32 Jesus diagnosed people as living in lies and slavery saying, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”. Rather than accepting Jesus’ diagnosis, they argued with him saying in John 8:33, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Not only were they ignoring their need for freedom, they also rewrote the history of their people denying the fact that they had been slaves in Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon and were currently under Roman rule.
Before we jump to judge them, we should first judge ourselves. Do you fall into the same two traps that they did?
One, do you overlook sins in your life that you have learned to hide, live with, or manage rather than walk away from once and for all? Is there any sin in your life that has kept you in bondage only to see God set you free but you wind up heading back to your old jail cell? Are you ready to walk in freedom with Jesus and walk away from that nagging habit, habitual sin, or secret struggle?
Two, have you overlooked or even rewritten the history of your family? Have you neglected to be truly honest about sins and various kinds of bondage or slavery that your family has normalized and tried to work around?
Are you ready to be honest about yourself and/or your family and live in the freedom that God offers rather than continuing in bondage and slavery?