Do Not Go Back to the Jail of Your Past – Pass Go and Collect 200

In the book of Hosea, God mentions that there will come a day when we will no longer call Him Master but we will call Him Husband (Hosea 2:16). Friend, that day came over 2000 years ago! It came when Jesus decided to (1) pay the debt that kept us as slaves and (2) marry us to Himself so that we could become royalty just as He is royalty.

What a promotion! Jesus took it upon himself to change our destiny from death (that comes from sin) to life (that comes from His righteousness – not our own). He not only decided to liberate us from bondage, He took it a step further and propelled us into kingship.

Why we go back to jail

Here is what Jesus did in a nutshell: (1) He put down his crown and descended His throne (2) He stripped himself of royalty and put on journeyman’s clothing (3) He traveled from a far country to our jailhouse (4) He sacrificed himself so that we would be released (5) He married us to Himself so that He could take us back with Him and experience what He experiences (6) He picked up his throne again but then gave us crowns of rulership when we got back to His country (See Romans 8:17 and Ephesians 2:4-8).

Since Jesus has done all this, then why is it that too many of us do not live the life Jesus suffered to give us? Is it because we think it is too good to be true? See, many of us are still trying to pay the debt that has already been paid by Jesus! We almost feel bad that we got away scot free! So, we take off our crowns and return back to the jailhouse and attempt to pay off a debt that no longer exists. We put ourselves back in bondage of works – which is the way of the world – so that there is no difference between them and us. We return to our past!

How crazy is this behavior – working to receive nothing since the price has already been given to us as a gift! The jailor (Satan) cannot believe his luck – he keeps his mouth shut and only opens it to repeat to us that we did not deserve what Jesus did. The King (Jesus) cannot believe it either. He calls out to us as we go back to the jailhouse pleading with us to stay with him. In truth, the King should be very angry because we have made his sacrifice of no effect. He set us free but we put ourselves back in chains!

Light-bulb moment: To live the life God intended requires that we stop trying to deserve His love – we do not –  and start accepting it for what it is!

Break out of Jail

Without accepting the truth of the unconditional love of God, we place ourselves back in chains and we attempt to work our way out of debt. This is like saying to a jailor: I know I broke the law to get in here and I have been given the death penalty. Now that I am in here, I am going to keep all the law so that you can let me out!

This does not even work in real life! No matter how much good a person does in jail, it does not negate what he has done before. Only the judge can pardon! God is our righteous judge who has already pardoned. We no longer have to live as slaves – trying to please our master through our good works. We are now married to the Master because of his love for us. All he now wants of us is to be faithful – to be full of trust and belief in Him (who He is and what He has done). If you are not faithful or “full of faith”, you will find yourself going back to the jailhouse!

Food for Thought: Today, I will not go back to jail; I will pass the test of faithfulness and collect on God’s goodness