To Be Free...

“Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us.” Hebrews 12:1.

I read the most disturbing fact in my study this morning regarding the training of elephants for the circus. It is a fact that when elephants are chosen to be circus elephants they are chained in infancy. Since the babies are not strong enough to pull free, they grow tired of trying to free themselves and resign themselves to a life of boundaries. They learn that their life will be lived within those boundaries and freedom is not an option for them.

The same is with us when dealing with our fears and our sins. We learn to live with limited freedom based on the fears that drive our mind. Encumbrance means a burden, a hindrance and an impediment. Christ has already broken us free and removed the chains, so why is it that we just stand there and do not run for the open field? We are like the freed baby elephant who still feels the entanglement of his chain and do not trust that he is free. It is much easier to hold on to our fear and tell ourselves that we cannot escape our burden than it is to be led gently and purposely to the open field.

If we are “entangled and encumbered” it is the work of Satan convincing us that we cannot be free and we must not buy into the lie. We may feel the chain on our ankle but it is not attached to anything on the other end.