A Big Difference

There is a vast difference between being SET free and being MADE free.

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John 8:31-32 – Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

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In some nations of the world, elephants are still used by people for work in areas where mechanical equipment simply cannot operate.  In those countries, the training of an elephant, usually of the Indian species, begins right after birth.  In the early days of its life, when it is safe for the mother elephant to be separated from her baby, the baby elephant will have a loose-fitting collar placed around one of its hind legs, and with a chain, attached to an immovable object, such as a relatively large tree.  Yet, when that elephant has undergone training and has reached the maturity level at which it can do work, the metal collar is replaced, often by a soft rope collar, and is now fastened to nothing more than a stake of wood driven into the ground.  While in the metal collar and anchored to a tree, the elephant learns that it cannot move freely where it desires.  Later, when it is fully trained, it does not realize that the simple rope and wooden stake cannot keep it from breaking free.  The elephant has been MADE to believe it is bound, while in reality, it could go free.

Now apply a similar thinking process to the Christian.  When one realizes he/she needs Jesus, they realize they are bound.  They have lived that way.  At the new birth, they are set free from the sin and life-limits that had them bound.  But being set free, they have yet to learn that they have been made free.  As long as one deals with an unrenewed mind, he/she may feel they are still held back to some degree, not truly grasping the freedom that belongs to him/her.  But when one has BELIEVED, CONTINUES in the mind-renewing Word of God, DISCIPLINES themselves to obey (do) what the Word of God says, and comes to KNOW the Word they have received is truth, that person shall be MADE free.  When the prison doors are opened and the pardon is in hand, one has been SET free.  But when one has learned to live in victory outside the prison bars that once kept them bound, knowing and enjoying his/her freedoms and accepting his/her responsibilities, one is now MADE free.  If Jesus is your Savior, you have been SET free.  If you live, fully acknowledging Him as Lord, enjoying and honoring your covenant live, you have been MADE free.  It’s time to make the knowledge that you’ve been SET free into the more powerful knowledge that you have been MADE free.  Enjoy your freedom! 

Manna for Today – John 8:31-38; Isaiah 55:11; Joshua 1:6-9; Proverbs 4:20-23; Psalm 119:89

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