Being Free and Staying Free

What could have you more bound than death itself?

“When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.””

John 11:43-44 NIV

So Jesus offers freedom from those old “grave clothes,” those reminders and bondages of your life before Him, your life when you were dead and headed for Hell in sin. The thing is, we have to take those clothes off. We may be free in FACT by the blood of Jesus and our ability to apply it to our lives, to cover our sins and wash us clean. The actual APPLICATION of that freedom, however, comes in our CHOICE to REMOVE those grave clothes.

So this is being free, the getting free, the first step. What’s the next step? How do we STAY free?

The next step is coming to the wedding feast that Jesus has set before us to be united with Him forever, to be made one with Him… and coming with not grave clothes but “wedding clothes.”

““But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.””

Matthew 22:11-14 NIV

We are all INVITED to this feast, have the opportunity, have been given the choice to apply the blood of Jesus in our lives and link up to Him to do life His way with Him. The CHOSEN part comes in us actually putting on the wedding clothes (Jesus blood) and applying His sacrifice and honoring it with our lives as we follow Him.

Let’s trade those grave clothes that keep us bound to sin and death and STAY FREE by putting on those wedding clothes that bring freedom and abundant life!