Conditioning
For you did not
receive the spirit of bondage again to fear…
Romans 8:15
Lincoln and Kate weren’t too keen on
fencing off their entire property but were at whit’s end as to how
to deal with Max, their golden retriever. His lack of response to
their commands―a total disregard for their authority would have
been a better way to describe the situation―was unacceptable.
Frequently terrorizing the neighbor’s
cat, Max hadn’t responded to obedience school or the one-on-one
on-sight instruction by a professional trainer. The moment the
trainer left Max would take off after the cat like he’d been shot
from a cannon! At this point the Howards had spent several hundred
dollars, to no avail, on behavior modifications. Then a
friend told them about his invisible fence system. “Works
like a charm!” they said.
So they had the system installed. It
consisted of a heavy-gauge wire buried along the perimeter of the
property which was connected to a low voltage electrical unit.
Max, in turn, was fitted with a sensing collar. Any time he
got within six inches of the underground wire he received a mild
shock, telling him don’t come near here! Unpleasant, each
shock taught Max to fear this invisible barrier. Eventually,
he became conditioned to remain within the set boundaries.
†
Testing boundaries is human nature.
From the time we are born until the day we die we seek to find our
limitations.
Sin is one such boundary we experience.
And usually its consequences cause us to keep our distance. However,
many times we repeat our mistakes. When we do, Satan uses the event
like a shock collar, telling us we’ve gone too far and are
unforgivable and unworthy of redemption. He seeks to put us in
bondage…because if we reach our full spiritual potential, he loses.
With every mistake he whispers toxic lies, “God would never forgive
you now. Even if He did, you’d just screw up again…why bother?”
Satan is lying.
Paul says if we allow ourselves to be
led by God’s Spirit He will change the condition of our heart from
a spirit of fear to a Spirit of sonship. Don’t believe the lies, we
are never beyond the reach of God.
Prayer
“Lead me by Your Spirit
out of the enemy’s bondage, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”
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