In this series I will be sharing some of the places I have been in my Christian walk—places of bondage, guilt and condemnation. But first things first! As daughters of the King the last thing we should be experiencing in the Kingdom is “bondage, guilt or condemnation”.
The Savior of the world says, “Come to me,
all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30)
“Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is
a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in
the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the
Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (Jesus the Son of God is recorded
saying this in John 8:34-36)
So if the Savior of the world set us Free from the bondage of sin in this
world, why then would He place us back in bondage under the guise of being His disciple? He didn’t. But man has. In most cases not intentionally, but
we still must be careful.
When I first decided to make Jesus Lord
of my life, I was excited and very anxious to be a part of any and everything,
so I latched onto the first things to come my way, and some caused me trouble—big
time!
- Putting on the whole armor of God
- Could I not tarry (pray) for one hour
- Being at church every time the doors are open
- Reading the Bible through in one year
- Tithes and Offerings
- Finding out what your gift is
- Being on a ministry in your congregation
- Usurping authority over your husband
Please take a minute to read the whole armor of God, Ephesians 6:10-18 (click).
Over 20 years ago, a very prominent and well known minister on TV, taught about putting on the whole armor of God. He suggested we get up each morning and put on the different pieces to the suit of armor Paul describes. Now this pastor still has a weekly broadcast on TV and I love him because his bible teachings are sound, but like all of us—he only knows in part. (And truth be told, I haven’t heard him teach on putting on the armor of God that way in years.) But what did I do? I started getting up daily and putting on my armor. I was going to be ready for battle.
Every morning I would declare each piece as I acted out putting them on. But then life unscripted settled in and I didn’t do it every morning. And I would experience feelings of condemnation if I encountered difficulties on a day I skipped. And as time went on, I became bored with the routine of it all. It just became words I said and something I did. Why? Because I was just going through the motions of what I had been told to do without any understanding—at all.
As I began to study, I learned that the armor the soldiers wore back in Paul’s time was never taken off when they were in battle. They slept in it. They had to be ready at all times. Their camp could be attacked at anytime. Sound familiar?
Paul isn’t saying to get up each day and figuratively put on armor. No. He’s the one who told us that we are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. Him, more than anyone knew the finished work at the Cross concerning our salvation. We all know he preached the gospel of peace. And did he not write that it is impossible to please God without faith, and give us the definition of what faith is? Yes he did!
You see sisters; we must study the Bible in its totality to understand. It is imperative!
As my understanding grew, I realized—Paul’s description of the “whole armor of God” is something we wear all the time—it is who we are—and we never take it off.
This past summer, I was invited to a small women’s fellowship at someone’s home. We had a wonderful time eating and laughing. But before it ended, we had a time of sharing and looking at a few things in the bible. And to my surprise a women who I know to love the Lord and be a mature Christian in many ways, shared with great enthusiasm and conviction how she gets up each morning and puts on the whole armor of God. And she also stated that when she forgot things didn’t seem to go well. It was at that point I realized we are still doing things without understanding or asking questions.
It also seems we overlook the biggest part of what Paul is saying here. We wrestle not with flesh and blood! His focus is on the wiles of our enemy and places of attack. And having done all we can do, we are to stand strong in our confidence in the Lord—and pray. And who are we to pray for?
When we look at the ministry of Christ, we see, one of His biggest problem was with the leaders and the burden they put on the people. When I look around, I still see much of that today. But there is one difference…we have the bible!
Sisters, don’t fall into the trap of doing things mindlessly. It is impossible to take off the righteousness of God at night and have to put it on again each day. It is who we are once we enter into the Kingdom of God. Its okay to question what someone tells you to do? We should be fact checkers and not just take someone’s word of this is how it is.
If you are a Believer and feel burden in your Christian walk because of rules or regulations and such…it is time to step back and talk to God about it. There is no reason for us to be bound up in legalism or any other form of bondage. That is not the ministry of our Lord. He died that we might be FREE!
Next Week: The
Bondages of Christendom (Part 2…To Tithe, or Not To Tithe?)
Until next week...
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