Bondage – Singing with the Spirit

Have you ever pondered why we stay? Stay where things are simply ‘satisfactory’. Stay in our failure, pride, arrogance, fear and unrest.

Does it bring us comfort?

Does it bring peace?

Does it bring satisfaction?

In the following 3 verses of the hymn ‘Out of My Bondage’, George Stebbins, in each verse, makes 3 statements of recognition and 3 affirmations of what he knows would happen if those recognition’s were overcome. Throughout the song, he transforms in his understanding that bondage to worldly things, only causes stumbling and strife.

It is something that the devil is wonderful at using against us. He uses the contentment we find in ‘satisfactory’. He uses our failures, pride, arrogance and fear to keep us EXACTLY where we are and THAT is what does it. That is what holds us hostage, or, in bondage. WE are the ones keeping ourselves enamored with temporary pleasures that will never satisfy nor soothe the enduring emptiness that we feel when the initial satisfaction wares off. How do we alleviate our desire for a satisfaction that we cannot seem to fill? It’s a simple answer, and one not many will choose to pursue. GOD. In the beginning, Gen. 1:1, He was there. He’s seen it all and He’s given us a way to Him (John 3:16) and the ETERNAL satisfaction we desire and that is through His son. Through Him, we find protection and peace (2 Tim. 2:10; Phil. 4:7).

What holds you in bondage? Let go of it and run to the one who listens, gives protection, provides peace and can alleviate pain and sorrow. Lean on Him and He will bring you an everlasting joy that will fill your heart. Be brave enough to reach out of the comforts of your sin, whatever it may be, and find the eternal comforts of Christ as He stands waiting to welcome you Out of Your Bondage.

Have you ever had to write a compare and contrast essay? I’m sure we all, at some point in our educated lives, wrote or had to prepare to write a comparative essay. But stop and imagine what your write if you wrote a compare/contrast essay on your life?

In 1887, George C. Stebbins penned words that distinctly reflect the appearance of a comparative and contrasted life. A life before, or without, Jesus and a life including Jesus. The differences could not be more stark. Verse 1 of this hymn goes as follows.

“Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus I come, Jesus I come; Into Thy freedom gladness and light, Jesus I come to Thee; Out of my sickness, into Thy health, out of my want and into Thy wealth, Out of my sin and into Thyself, Jesus I come to Thee.”

Stebbins does a beautiful job of capturing the sides of with and without Christ. Though, some may wonder ‘what bondage, sorrow and sickness is he talking about being caught up in?’, it’s just that. It’s the bondage of ignorance and the sorrow and sickness of a sin-infected world.

Now what about the other half of that verse? Freedom, Gladness, Wealth, Health…personally, I’d like to take all of the above! Do not be surprised that those things may not come in the form we would like them to or would even expect them to. Truly seeing and appreciating ‘freedom, gladness, wealth and health’ takes humility and a willingness to relinquish self-control. None of which will come easy because we are in bondage to the physical desires of this world.

Compare and Contrast Essays have always been fun for me. Picking a topic and writing about how, why and what makes it so individualistically different to something else is enlightening. If you were to do that with your life, what do you think you would see? The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans talks about his, and, ultimately, our, struggle and fight with the sin that is constantly in our lives. He makes it clear in Romans 7:24 & 25 to whom we should be in bondage. He strongly reiterates this idea in Romans 8, saying, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

Bondage to sin is weighty, cumbersome and exhausting. Freedom in Christ is light, easy and full of relief. And each of us will choose between bondage and freedom. Compare and Contrast these two and make your choice…

Tag: Bondage

Bondage…Part 2

Bondage? Part 1

Have you ever had to write a compare and contrast essay? I’m sure we all, at some point in our educated lives, wrote or had to prepare to write a comparative essay. But stop and imagine what your write if you wrote a compare/contrast essay on your life?

In 1887, George C. Stebbins penned words that distinctly reflect the appearance of a comparative and contrasted life. A life before, or without, Jesus and a life including Jesus. The differences could not be more stark. Verse 1 of this hymn goes as follows.

Stebbins does a beautiful job of capturing the sides of with and without Christ. Though, some may wonder ‘what bondage, sorrow and sickness is he talking about being caught up in?’, it’s just that. It’s the bondage of ignorance and the sorrow and sickness of a sin-infected world.

Bondage or Freedom?

Written by Emili (Bruce) Todd