Remember Your Chains

“‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy… Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work… You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).

One of the reasons God has given us the Sabbath is that we might recall our slavery to sin and God’s awesome deliverance from it. We cease from our work to ponder anew God’s work.

God told Israel it was important for them to think back on their slavery.

It’s important that we too remember we were slaves, far less able to free ourselves than Israel was to escape Pharaoh. Sin’s chains were far stronger than Pharaoh’s. He could only restrain Israel’s bodies; sin’s tentacles enwrapped our hearts, minds and wills. The Israelites detested Pharaoh; we delighted in evil. Israel wanted out; we were comfortable in sin’s shackles. Every Sunday’s a wonderful opportunity to remember our desperate plight when Jesus liberated us.

And every Sunday is an opportunity to recall God’s astounding power in saving us.

By Jesus’ obedience and death he overthrew Satan, the Prince of darkness, a malevolent spirit whose strength makes Pharaoh look like a chiuajua. Jesus shattered sin’s dominion over us, a power so strong no army could defeat it. He lifted the spiritual scales from our eyes no earthly surgery could remove. He created new hearts in us that beat with love and delight in him, changing our spiritual “taste” to relish his beauty and his Word. What infinite power it takes to change people from God-haters to God-lovers, from selfish rebels to humble servants.

And how did God free and change us? The mighty hand and outstretched arm of God fell upon his own Son.

By his mighty hand and outstretched arm, the Father nailed Jesus to the cross, crushing his Beloved as he poured his foaming wrath upon Christ’s head. And by his mighty hand and outstretched arm, God loosed Jesus from death’s icy grip and raised him up to sit at his right hand.

This Sunday (and every day) remember your chains. And God’s awesome power that freed you from them.

Photo by Darwin Bell