I have a free standing 4 ½ foot tall jewelry box in the
corner of my bedroom. It’s one of those
that have a top that opens upwards and doors that meet in the middle and open
outwards. Once those doors are opened,
there are drawers going down the center of the cabinet. Each section has different
forms of dividers….for earrings, bracelets, watches and rings. The inside of the doors have about 30 hooks,
for necklaces to be hung on. It used to
be full of all types of jewelry neatly organized. Then my daughter discovered it. Once she figured out how to open it, it
became her favorite place to play. Jewelry
of all sorts would be found throughout the corners of our house. In fact, it was so bad, that on most days I only
have one earring on because my daughter has lost its match. I put it in my left ear because my hair
covers my right ear. The jewelry group that
suffered the most from this tiny tyrant was my necklaces. I had necklaces made of beads, pearls,
leather and all shades of chains. Silver
chains, white gold chains and gold chains….those were her favorite. They were just too shiny, glittery and bright
for her to resist. She could put most of
them right over her head and they would fall down over her chest. She would preen around the house showing off her
new found beauty from these beautiful chains adorning her. They did look beautiful….for a little
while. After time, they started to
irritate her. They were a little itchy,
or her hair would get caught in them.
She would try to take them off, but it was harder to get them up over
her head than it was to put them on. Now
they were an irritant to her…they bothered her…they encumbered her. This once beautiful shiny chain that adorned
her had turned to something ugly that burdened her…it put her in…bondage. Oh, friend….can I tell you how I have been
there…can I tell you how that things that once were exciting, once enticing,
once beautiful have a way of turning so ugly…so painful. At first, it was something I thought I had a
right to put on. After all, I was the
one who deserved it. I had an injustice
done to me and this beautiful shiny chain was going to be my way to make an
ugly situation easier….prettier…bearable.
You see I had suffered abuse and this chain of unforgiveness gave me
control. That one chain turned in to two
chains…the chain of bitterness. Then I
adorned myself with the chain of judgment…I thought I had a right to wear it. I mean I wasn’t the one in the wrong to begin
with…this was just a normal human reaction. Before I knew it, I was taken over
by more chains than I ever intended to wear.
The cheap metal of some of them would irritate my neck turning places on
my neck black. The pendants on others
would leave indentations in my neck from sleeping with them on. Some of them would become tangled from rubbing
together day after day. They were no
longer pretty or shiny. They were ugly,
dull and they bound me. You may have done
the same thing with your life. That
beautiful car that you just had to have may have become a chain of debt that
you wish you had never put on. Perhaps
you felt rejected from your spouse and so the chain of pornography was soon found
around your neck. Maybe you were hurt at
church and so chains of bitterness and separation from the body of Christ can
be found encumbering you. Possibly, you
have gone through a painful divorce and you have willingly adorned yourself with
the chains of anger and evil speaking.
My friends….oh my friends….let me tell you something…I have a God that
can drop those chains right around your feet….and He doesn’t even have to touch
them to do it. You can do it….through
Him. Nothing can put you in bondage that
you don’t allow. We serve the Master,
the Almighty One, the One who holds the keys to death, hell and the grave. He created you….He has freely given you His
power by declaring that you can do all things through Him. Nothing can bind you….you serve an all-powerful
God that has not given you a spirit of fear and bondage….but rather boldness
and freedom. Somebody raise up your
voice and call upon the one who has freely given us all things and declare that
this bondage must be no more. Let me
tell you how my daughter took those chains off.
She would take her two tiny hands and pull….she pulled until she felt
the chain break free around her…and then she would drop them to the floor. I would find remnants of chains scattered
throughout the house. Shackles…..broken. Bondage…freed. Freedom…..granted. Friends, it’s time. Just like the Tasha Cobb’s song says….It is
time to break every chain. There is power
in the name of Jesus to break every chain.
Every chain. Are you ready to be
free…are you tired of carrying this mess around your neck? Are you tired of being a free man willingly
binding yourself up with these chains?
Pull them off in the name of Jesus.
Let them go…call upon Him to give you the strength to just free your
spirit. The same God that let those
chains fall down around Paul’s feet in that prison…the same God that freed the
Maniac of Gadara from the chains others put on Him….the same God that granted
Samson the ability to break free from chains in order to topple over a building
and kill the Philistines….that God, yes that God is the one that can break
every chain you are carrying. So grab
your chains my friend and call on Him that can loosen them from you. Once they are broken, drop them down and walk….no
run, from them. Don’t pick them up, just
let them go. Do you hear that? Do you hear that clanking sound? That’s the sounds of chains being dropped…I
hear them…that my friend, is the sound of freedom.
