Have you ever seen a circus elephant and wondered why that dinky little rope around its ankle is strong enough to hold that great big elephant? Well, it isn't strong enough, but the elephant thinks it is! When a baby elephant is being trained, they use a strong chain around its ankle and tie it to a post. The baby tries and tries to get free, but it can't break the chain. When it finally decides it can't get free and gives up, then the trainer substitutes a dinky little rope for the chain. In its mind the elephant has already decided it can't get free, so it gives the power to the rope to enslave it. It would be so easy for the elephant to break free, but it doesn't even try.
There are many things that people allow themselves to be chained by - from Oreo cookies to other people's opinions. The book Living in Absolute Freedom by Donna Partow provides wonderful examples and insight, and also a longer version of the story about the circus elephant. She reminds us that when Christ went to the cross, he broke the chains that bind us. He set us free from the power of sin and death. If you have trusted Christ for your salvation, you're no longer in bondage.
If you are not living free, it's probably because you ( or someone else ) has tied some dinky little rope around your ankle. Since you haven't taken a close enough look, you're giving that rope far more power than it deserves.
I am finding the book Living in Absolute Freedom to be very insightful. I'm only on Chapter 3, and I'll let you know what else I learn as I read through it.
