Freedom In Jesus

For the past week, Psalm 51 has continued to be on my heart. King David had messed up, badly, but he understood that God was full of mercy, compassion, and unfailing love. Instead of hiding or trying to cover up his sin, David implored God to sanctify his heart, to examine its intent and cleanse it from all impurity; and then he asked God to “restore” to him “the joy” of His salvation.

Do you remember when you met Jesus, the first time you really understood His love and forgiveness, the joy and relief and safety you felt in that moment? In the day-in and day-out of life, I think it’s easy to forget. I think it’s easy to lose the joy of His salvation. David had. For us, the willingness of God to remove sin from our lives and make our hearts “whiter than snow” can feel like such an impossible miracle, stealing our joy and causing us to continue living in the same old sinful patterns of our past, weighted down by guilt and embarrassment.

I heard a story on the radio that sadly illustrates this idea. The story goes as follows:

Once upon a time, there was a poor villager whose job it was to sell small birds in the town square. Every day, to keep his birds secure, the villager would tie one end of a string to one of each bird’s legs and attach the other end of the string to a ring. The ring was then fastened to a pole in the ground. The constraint of the strings prevented the birds from flying away or scattering throughout the marketplace. Day after day, the birds walked around the pole in a monotonous, yet secure, circle. 

One day, a man came to the village and saw the birds. His heart was troubled with pity for the small animals, and he immediately offered to buy them. “How many?” asked the villager. “All of them,” replied the man. After an exchange of currency, the villager was surprised when the man instructed him to cut the strings constraining the birds. One by one, he removed the ties that bound them, and the birds were free.

However, it was with great sadness that the compassionate man watched as the birds continued to walk in their circle, so trained had they become by their days and days of bondage. Even after gently shooing them off, the birds continued to behave as though they remained tied, and walked in the same restrictive circle, so conditioned had they become to their confinement.

This story hit me hard. Those little birds had once been free. After living so long in captivity, they had lost their understanding of what it felt like to live in freedom. As Christians, how often do we continue to live as though the constraints of our sin remain? Sometimes we resume living in the same sinful patterns. Sometimes, we allow guilt or shame to weigh us down and continue to tie us to our past. Sometimes, not even the encouragement of other believers can persuade us to leave behind the old, familiar paths we’ve walked, thought, or believed for so long.    

We have been given a miraculous gift. Jesus, the very Son of God, became human, lived among us, and died on a cross for our sins. After three days, He rose from the dead, conquered sin and death and provided a way for us to be right with God the Father. He promised to take on and release from the bondage of sin every one who believes in Him.

Hebrews 12:1-3 is such an encouragement. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Dear friends, it is my prayer that we learn to approach each day as a fresh, new start, that we live daily in the JOY of the salvation and freedom we have in Jesus. May we wake up each day with renewed strength and understanding of who we are in Christ and run without constraint the race set before us, with our eyes on the prize.     

A few years ago one of my new year’s resolutions was to learn to sign in American Sign Language (ASL). I would often sign a few basic words (stop, sit, please, sorry, water, yes, no, etc…) with my kindergarten students, but I wanted to learn more. Because I found myself without a true context in which to sign, I decided to start to sign to music. After about a year, I was invited to sign with my church’s worship team, which I have continued unto the present day.

One of my favorite songs growing up was “Create in Me a Clean Heart” by the late Keith Green. The song is one of those that is just scripture set to music, so, to sing it, is to sing the Word of God, in this case, Psalm 51. This week, I made and am sharing an ASL cover of “Create in Me a Clean Heart.” There are many, many versions of this song, and I hope you enjoy the one I chose. Every opportunity I have to sign in ASL is a humble praise offering to Jesus. I hope you are blessed this week by His great love and are continually reminded that, in Him, you are a new creation. The old is passed away, and all things are new. You were created in the image of God, therefore, you are perfectly made and perfectly loved.  

Tap on photo to view my cover of "Create in Me a Clean Heart" in American Sign Language