I'd like to put the blame on anyplace but myself for this prison that I live within. When you take away all the blame and excuses we are all still responsible for the prison we are keeping ourselves in. There has been an open cell door for 62 years for me and I have yet to fully walk out of this cell. Why is that? Because familiarity keeps me there. Like a dog returning to it's vomit...the Bible says. That's gross but true. We seem to like or love where we are/were and fear where we can go. There are plenty of reasons for this phenomenon in my life, your life, and the lives of those around us. We all seek the big three: love, acceptance and approval. We seek but do not find because we ask the wrong person. We want love, acceptance and approval from man while only needing them from God who freely gives to those who ask. Man I must be dense to have arrived here bringing yesterday with me. How about you? Have you been looking for love, acceptance and approval from the wrong people or groups? Maybe you are caught in the legalism of a religious group where you are not "good enough" unless you... Well you can finish the statement. Here's a secret that is not so secret. God loves you, wants you to love yourself as he loves you and has provided a way where you can do just that. His name is Jesus.
Jesus, while on earth and now in the Word and by the Holy Spirit, ended legalism. Think I'm wrong? Read the Word and you will see that he came to fulfill the law and so the law is no longer binding on us who believe. It's the "law" that we choose that keeps us in our prisons. Here is the truth. Jesus wants you free. He broke the bonds of prison for all of us once and for all time. That's for everyone for eternity! Do you get it? You are free! If you are free then why don't you feel like it? Because, maybe, you haven't stepped outside of the cell door. The cell has names: family, friends, church, society, and of course self. Whenever you define any of these there are limits just because we are limited people. We aren't infinite like God. We aren't all knowing like God. We aren't all powerful like God. We are finite and as long as we stay in our prison have limited understanding of who God is and what he can do in our lives, through our lives and the lives of those around us. If we don't have the love of God (found outside the prison door), we aren't able to give that love to anyone. You may give love defined by family, friends, church or even society but it's not the love of God. Do you get it? The prison we have is self imposed and we live out our lives in that box while in Christ there is no box.
I have a garden, orchard and a greenhouse. I'm blessed to be able to have them. In the garden I can plant whatever will grow there and survive the elements. In the fall the garden goes dormant and no longer produces. The orchard has apple, pear, plum and cherry trees. They too produce their crop and go dormant. The greenhouse is a different animal entirely. I can grow plants there all year round! It's a hothouse in the summer and a garden in the winter. It requires sunlight and water. The rest is up to imagination and plant seeds. There once were limits on what could be produced for my consumption. The greenhouse gave me freedom to be outside of that law. You may not like the design, look, or even the location of my greenhouse. It doesn't matter. It's still a freedom from the prison of dormancy. The local grocery store and mom and pops garden stand don't like my greenhouse. For them it's one less prisoner to their prices and availability. I don't feel guilty not buying from them. Why? Because I'm free from that prison! Why should it be any different in my spiritual life?
I'm not defined by what you think of me, my Christian beliefs, or how I practice my faith. That leaves me free to be who Christ wants me to be, believe what Christ wants me to believe and to practice my faith as Christ wants me to. He said I am free of sin and fully righteous by my placing faith in him. He said I am set free from the legalism of religion and the world by placing my faith in him. He said I am free from the confines of how I worship allowing me to worship him 24/7 instead of on Sunday and Wednesday nights. He set me free to plant seeds in every garden I come in contact with regardless of their placement in my life. The whole world became a greenhouse for us when he came, lived, died and rose from the dead. How is that you might ask. I'm glad you asked! There are no constraints in Christ and if you are in Christ there are no constraints on you. Hence, you don't need to live in your old prison cell. You are free. The door has been opened...unless you've closed it. That's your choice as well.
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