Shackled

I believe that you will find this writing thought provoking.  My intent is to stimulate your awareness of the hour of urgency in which we live.  Touchy, feely writings have their place, but miss the mark of realization at times.  They fail to arouse a person’s thinking beyond the three foot circle that surrounds them.  I want to rouse those that are slumbering and awaken them to the need of being sober and vigilant.

Have you ever had a bad dream or considered what it would be like to have your limbs shackled against your will; subject to another person’s narcissistic desires and sinister notions?  Perhaps it is too disturbing for you to think about, but please read on.

The mere mention of the word shackled suggests discomfort and a fear of being in someone else’s control.  Not only is the freedom of mobility impaired, but one’s state of mind is affected to the highest degree when they are unable to move.

Handcuffs and leg irons are effective restraints that are designed and used to subdue and hold a person securely.  Too often we hear news reports that another kidnapping of an unsuspecting victim has taken place.  We hear later that the person abducted was shackled and that their captor did horrific things to them.  The captive was at their mercy, but the end result was physical death.

When we hear of such atrocities, our heart skips a beat and anger fills our being.  Feelings of sorrow and outrage on behalf of the ill-treated party emerge, and for a brief moment we try to imagine the extent of suffering and torture that they had to endure.  As long as it didn’t happen to us or someone dear to us, we soon forget the person that was victimized by Satan, and life continues down the same old path of unawareness as it once did.

There are vicious people all around us.  A false sense of security is created when we buy dogs, guns, and install alarm systems with heavy-duty security doors in an attempt to safeguard our family and prevent home invasions from demonic-possessed reprobates.  Satan is as sadistic and inhumane as he ever was.  He is merciless and seeks to kill and devour unsuspecting souls that are not vigilant to his schemes of deception.

It horrifies me to imagine the grotesque, physical pain of captivity, but to be shackled spiritually is worse than death itself.  Being bound by sin and living a life of “the living dead” is nightmarish and unnecessary, because Jesus paid the price to prevent an existence such as this. 

When a person is shackled by Satan, it becomes a daily routine of being confined inside a vacuum that is void of hope and peace (a living hell).  Every waking moment is filled with despair and mental torment, because joy has taken flight and the bitter reality of sin is realized.

Nothing can satisfy the longing of a soul that is shackled and tortured by the devil.  A person without Christ is at the mercy of Satan, but he has no mercy.  He is far worse than any kidnapper, rapist, or serial killer such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer.  It is estimated that Hitler was responsible for the deaths of 11-17 million people in the holocaust.

Satan appears as a shining light of beauty, but he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing just like Bundy and Dahmer.  They were handsome, full of charm and charisma, and appeared to be trustworthy on the outside, but were deceitful and deadly within.  They had one thing in mind; to kill and destroy innocence.  This is certainly a picture of Lucifer; the great deceiver.

(1 Peter 5:8), “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

Mere mortals that try in themselves to resist or break free from Satan’s restraints are no match for his cunning, manipulative ways.  He knows our weaknesses and lures us into his web of torment unless we are protected by the blood of the lamb—the blood that Jesus shed for the redemption of mankind.

Satan tries to seduce people in subtle, non-predictable ways such as telling them that money can buy freedom, and that fame with its power bring happiness.  The one thing he does not reveal is that the shackles that bind people can only be broken by Jesus Christ.  The devil does everything in his power to hide this truth from us. 

When the Lord paid the price for our freedom, through His death on the cross, He took the keys to death, hell, and the grave and set the captive free from the shackles of sin.  Nothing or on-one else can set humanity free from this curse of sin, only God’s Son, Jesus.

I am reminded of my younger days when riding motorcycles and hanging out with the wrong crowds provided momentary glory, but when the short-lived pleasures faded and the highs came crashing down, I was left to weep alone, because the reality of my lonely existence was fully realized. 

It was difficult for me to grasp that a holy and righteous God cared about me personally, but Jesus was patiently awaiting my cry for help.  It wasn’t until I surrendered my conflicting, inconsistent thinking to Him and confessed my sins, that discord and confusion vacated my inner being.  Jesus set me free and broke the bonds of prison that held me captive.  I found the missing piece to my puzzling existence—the Prince of Peace, Jesus.

(John 8:36), “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

A person needn’t possess a bagful of regrets, because of wild living or belonging to a gang, to know the pain of bondage.  Those that suffer can be anyone among us, including ourselves.  They can be law abiding citizens with good, moral character on the outside, but on the inside, where no-one is looking, they may be shackled by alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, or an addiction to pornography.

Bondage has no mercy, conscious, or respect of person.  It affects both genders in most every age group, even those people that find themselves in a place where everything is coming their way.  It would be most wise for them to check if they are in the wrong lane or heading down a one-way street.  Bucking the flow of traffic of those that are heaven bound and heading in the right direction is unwise.  The end result is spiritual death; far worse than the physical demise. 

Jesus can release anyone from the shackles that bind them if they want to be set free.  This is where the rubber meets the road; where a decision must be made.  It is the place that being sober and vigilant pays great dividends if we choose life rather than death.  Each of us is at liberty to choose Jesus or Satan.  No-one can make the decision for us.

If a person, for whatever reason, does not make a choice, by default they have chosen wrongly.  Their destiny is what it is; a life without Christ and an eternity completely void of God’s presence.  Hell is a dreadful place to end up.  Only the sound of gnashing teeth and screams of torment are the things received, because of a life filled with sin.  The horror of such a place surpasses our comprehension and most vivid imagination.

When a person chooses Jesus, He immediately puts them on the road to heaven; going in the right direction as soon as they confess their sins and ask God to forgive them.  No-one needs to spend another moment shackled by sin.  Jesus paid the price for our redemption.  He is our Savior and soon coming King.

(John 3:15-18), “…that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  vs.16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  vs.17 “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  vs.18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd