Like a bird set free from an iron cage of guilt and shame, Jesus Christ came to set free those who would believe in Him. What does real freedom look and feel like? How can any of us fully comprehend the meaning of living free in Christ?
Yesterday, I “saw” in my spirit a small yellow bird fluttering over a cage. The cage had no entrance, but I sensed that the once-bound bird had only recently been set free. Though the little bird sang joyously outside the confines of the barred prison that once held her, she did not realize the freedom before her. I felt both a joy over the little bird’s release and sorrow that she continued to remain beside the cage.
In prayer, I asked God to reveal to me those areas where He has brought me freedom, only to have me hang around the same old neighborhood of guilt or shame, think the same old thoughts, or continue the same old habits. What good is freedom if I, or we, refuse to live free?
The little bird represents many of us — even nations of us!
Free from Egypt
If ever there could be a true representation of an iron cage, Egypt fits the description.
“Remember that the LORD rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.”
Deuteronomy 4:20
Few of us can imagine the horror of human slavery. For 400 years, the people of Israel knew nothing else. Immediately after their release, they sang and danced with joy. But it didn’t take them long to begin to grumble and complain. They looked back on slavery with clouded vision and skewed perspective. Many times, they thought of executing their leader and returning to their old cage of slavery.
Absurd, but true! Like little yellow birds finally set free, they hung around clouded thoughts of Egypt, craving leaks and onions.
“We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted.“
Numbers 11:5
They became deceived, believing the bitter past could somehow hold their brightest future. Instead of receiving the fullness of God’s promise, they chose to flutter their tiny wings around a delusion. So rigid was their thinking that they became permanently stuck. Unable to move forward or go back to their old lives, they perished in the desert.
Remember
Jesus calls His followers to remember another someone who looked back and failed to move toward personal freedom.
Sodom and Gomorrah represent the epitome of human and spiritual depravity. Yet, Lot, a righteous man, chose to move with his wife and family into that vicinity — at first along the outskirts, but eventually into Sodom itself.
“ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)“
2 Peter 2:8
How many years he lived there we aren’t told. We do know that not a single person in the city was changed by his righteousness. We might rightly ask why anyone would make such a decision. The Bible tells us that financial gain motivated Lot to move to Sodom.
Soon, God brought a day of reckoning to the city. He sent angels to help Lot and his family escape.
“When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
Genesis 19:16-17
Paralyzed
You probably know the sad ending to the story. Lot’s wife disobeyed and looked back. Actually, she looked back with longing. It wasn’t a quick glance, but rather a wanting to return. We will never know her motivation, but we do know the seriousness of the consequences of her decision.
“But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
Genesis 19:26
Frozen in time, paralyzed by longing, petrified by fear, and unable to step into the future, Lot’s wife forever missed the freedom that God provided. Jesus warns us of a similar outcome.
“Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.”
Luke 17:32-33
By looking back and fluttering around our old prison cages, we attempt to hold on to something that was never ours to keep. Freedom and life come through Jesus Christ alone. The fullness of His promises are waiting for those who will courageously spread their wings and rise into the expanse of His mercy and grace. As we commit ourselves to Him and to His greater purpose for us, we find a life so incredibly wonderful.
Free in Christ
When Jesus sets us free, He also gives us the freedom to choose. Before He saved us, we had no option but to remain in the cages of our past. However, when we believe that He died to set us free and declare Him as Lord over our lives, we have an opportunity to experience freedom and fulfillment beyond our imaginations.
Oh friends! May we sense today the wonder and awe of the freedom He has given to us. May we heed His warning and set our faces — our thoughts and focus — on the amazing things He has ahead for us.
The little yellow bird’s cage had been small, limiting her every movement. But not anymore! Now, with God, she knows no limits.
Fly! Fly free, precious ones. Leave the empty cages behind. Today is your day. No looking back!
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