All tied down …

The circus had come to town and a local resident decided to attend the show. As the man was passing some elephants tethered outside the big tent, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact these huge creatures were being held only by a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious the elephants could break away from their bonds but for some reason they didn’t.

Being curious, the man saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

“Well,” the trainer explained, “when the elephants are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could break
free from their bonds any time they wanted to, but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? Through Christ, we can find freedom from a slave mentality and truly be free from what binds us.

“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free,” John 8:36.

Are you living freely in Christ, or as a slave to issues from your past that you have been unwilling to throw off?

Scotty