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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Lock (03/06/06)
The word LOCK can mean many things, but the one that comes to mind for me is prisoners. A lock can keep the burglar out, the kids inside, your articles stored safely at work or school or give you a feeling of safe security. As of late, I have had a heart for prisoners. I do not understand that because I too am a prisoner, locked up. I am not in a prison or facility where I cannot get out, but I am locked inside my own cage called the past.
People in prisons are locked behind door after door after door with many a guard watching each one. I am locked up by a past of abuse that perhaps some of these prisoners are in serving time for.
For those who are serving time for committing a crime, I want them to know there is freedom behind locked doors. It may not be the type that you and I experience, being able to go here and there as we please, but it is the type that can set any person who is locked up in some form of cage or past, free. The freedom I am talking about is a Spiritual freedom.
God says in the Bible that He loves all people equally and that there is no degree in sin in His eyes. That means that He loves everybody, in prison locked up or roaming around free, the murderer and rapist and the liar and thief the same. It may not seem right, but when God sets a standard, no one can change it.
And I think it is just as hard being locked inside your past as it is being locked inside a physical prison. Perhaps it is worse being locked inside your past because it takes a long time and a lot of effort to come past it enough that you are free to fly with the eagle. Inside a prison, everything is timed, orderly, guided and guarded. You know what happens when and you know who to avoid and who you can count on.
Unlocking the doors to your past is not as easy. There is no guide book. There are no set rules. There are no set times for specific things to take place. Things happen in your life randomly and sometimes they make no sense. Other times things happen or come to mind that cause great pain emotionally. It is in these times that you feel locked in a past of painful memories that won’t go away.
Is there a cure? There is no magic wand. There is no potion that can cure it. But for both the person in the physical prison serving time and for the person locked in their painful past, there is freedom in the arms of Jesus Christ. All it takes is for us to be willing to say, “Lord, please help me break free from these chains. Unlock the chains and loose the shackles that bind me so I can be free in You.”
You may not think it will do much, but if you are willing to try, you will be truly amazed at just how freeing it is.
So whether you are behind steel bars or locked in the prison of your past, there is a way out. There is scarcely any lock that cannot be broken, or any chain that cannot be broken for that matter. All we need is to ask the Bondage Breaker to loose us and we will be free. I dare you to try it.
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This article has been read 872 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Jan Ackerson
03/13/06
Good job, and nice comparison between physical bondage and bondage to one's past. I like your title for Jesus: Bondage Breaker.
Valora Otis
03/15/06
I enjoy articles that direct people where to find hope and freedom from any sort of bondage. You might want to double space between paragraphs for easier reading. I had to do the same when I first started writing. Bless you in your efforts.
Karen Rice
03/15/06
What you write here is important. Other than double spacing paragraphs and maybe tweaking to separate the longer ones into more thought-binding ones (for the reader to chew on), I was wondering if switching the first two paragraphs would help?

Good read!
Jessica Schmit
03/17/06
Good job. Everyone else said exactly was I was going to! Great message.
Marilyn Schnepp 
03/17/06
Good use of the topic - "Lock"; however, it is not reader friendly, as the paragraphs are not properly separated by double spacing; thus making an awesome task for a reader. Thanks for sharing.