“Stand
fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be
entangled again with a yoke of bondage….”
I heard this story about a
bear cub that was rescued after her mother had been hit by a car. The cub was
put in a temporary 12 x 12 cage by a wildlife rescue habitat until they could
decide what to do with her. Day after day the cub just paced back and forth —
from one end of the cage to the other—pining for her mother. Months passed by,
and no concrete decision was reached as to the future of the bear. In the
meantime, she began to grow rapidly. She became proficient in moving about
within her 12 x 12 cage. Since she was soon going to outgrow the cage, the
bear’s handlers decided to enlarge her world, and built a 36 x 36 foot cage, so
that it would allow her lot more room to experience her caged up life. To the amazement
of the handlers, even in the new, enlarged surrounding, the bear continued to live
her life as though she was still in the 12 x 12 cage. The problem was that it
was still hostage to the limitations of the old life. Although the animal had
been promoted to a whole new environment, it didn’t let go the old habits that
had been learned in her old environment.
Many Christians are like
this bear. We are so determined to live under the limitations and restrictions
of a performance-based approach to Christian living. Sometimes I wonder if we
can even handle the new freedom of living under grace. We continue to live our
lives limited by the law, not realizing that we’ve been set free to a lot more
room under grace. That is why Paul reminds us not to live the life we lived
when we were in darkness, but walk as children of the light. Grace has set us
free to live in true freedom.
Stephen Thomas
Stephen is an ordained Christian Minister and a Bible teacher who is a mentor to several youth leaders in Crossway Church and around the globe. He is a regular visiting Speaker in Crossway Church, New Delhi. He can be reached at stephenthomas6400@hotmail.com
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