Mark 10:17-27

One of the greatest blessings of the Christian life is the freedom we have through the atoning work of Christ.We are not bound by denominations, affiliations, or participations; but, we are free, completely, in the person of Christ. Have you ever watched a dog that is chained? Have you ever noticed how hard he tries to go a little farther, but the chain always stops him at the same place, never letting him go farther and experience more? I notice this when people take their dogs on a walk. They leash them and sometimes use chains to keep the dog from going anywhere other than where the owner wants the dog to go. The dog really has no freedom outside a 3-foot radius.

Unfortunately, in the church of the 21st century, many people are chained and remain in the same place. Rather than moving forward into what God wants to do in their lives, they remain in the same place where things are familiar, even if it is uncomfortable. It is as if they are on leashes that prevent them from experiencing more than what the dictator of their lives want them to experience.

This week we have been working on the revival week theme of breaking free, Today, we will look at the story as recorded in Mark 10:17-27.  and we hope chains will be broken in this place today. In the scripture of study there is this rich young ruler who came to Jesus with the question about the kingdom of God and how to access it. He was in a chain of some kind and like many of us he did not even know that he was bound. 

This chain was one the young man chose, thereby remaining restricted for the rest of his life. Jesus told him how to break the chain, but he was too consumed with all the wrong things to walk away and experience a new life that would be worth more than any amount of money he could attain. Jesus told him to give up his possessions and follow Him, but the rich young ruler was too chained to his material possessions and the temporal to see the eternal value of what Jesus was offering him. His money had become his idol, so he could not recognize Jesus wanted to be his Savior.

We all struggle with this at various points in our lives. Ask yourself this question, and be honest with yourself: Do you control your possessions, or do your possessions control you? Are you spending more time trying to acquire more, or do you spend your time looking to give to others? Jesus told us how to break that chain. All we have to do is give it up and follow Him. We can choose the eternal over the temporary.

Have you remained chained to your past? All of us can look back and see how things that have happened previously have held us in place for far too long. Forgiveness from God frees us to be a new man or woman in Him rather than living under the mistakes we made long ago. Christ died to set us free from those sins as He took each one of those mistakes to the cross.