| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 13 |
Page 4 |
It is the truth, Jesus says, that make men free. So long as they are ignorant of Christ and of His power to liberate them, they remain in bondage. But when His emancipating word comes to them, they are free. From old Crusading days comes this story: A certain king, on his way back from the Holy Land, was captured by his enemies and cast into prison — where, none of his friends knew. The king had a favorite minstrel who determined to find his master. He went throughout the country, pausing before the door of every prison, singing the songs he had been known to sing in the palace of his king. He hoped to find the captive monarch with his songs. Long he wandered in vain, but at last, as he stood one day before a prison window and sang, he heard a voice within, the voice of him he sought, responding. The old songs sung at the prison windows were heard by the captive, who was thus discovered and soon released. So when the messengers of Christ sing the songs of Christ’s love before prison doors, those within hear, and the truth makes them free.
The Jews resented the suggestion that they were in any sense slaves. “They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man.” But what species of deception they imagined themselves free, when at that very hour Roman soldiers stood guard about their city, we cannot understand. But it is the same with spiritual slaves. It is a great privilege to have good ancestry; it is good capital with which to start in life; but beyond a certain point it does not count for anything. The first question may be, “Who was your father?” But the next will surely be, “Who are you?” Every man must bear His own burden. In the end, everyone must stand for himself. These people were depending upon blood, upon their fine ancestry. Sin plays strange tricks with men. Insane people sometimes deck themselves out with tinsel, and imagine that they are some great personages. The devil puts similar notions into the heads of His deluded followers, making them think they are free, when in reality they are pitiful slaves.
Jesus very promptly assured the rulers of the people that they were not free men. He said to them, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” Sin makes slaves of those who follow it. Everyone is the servant of some master, the only question being who the master is. Christ asks His disciples to take His yoke and to come under bondage to Him. His is not the bondage of compulsion, but of love and joy. Christ is a blessed Master. His yoke is easy; serving Him lifts one up to eternal glory. What sort of master is sin? What does sin do for its slaves? What life did it ever ennoble, lift up, or bless?
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