Many years ago, it was pointed out to me that circus elephants are restrained not by heavy chains, but by a rope tied around one of the legs of the elephant and affixed to a stake in the ground. I’d never really noticed or thought about it until then. Here’s the psychology behind it:
When the elephant is very young and much smaller, a rope is used to tie the animal’s leg, and at that young age, the animal is not strong enough to break free. As the elephant grows, he becomes conditioned to believe that the rope can still hold him, though the rope is surely not strong enough to do so.
Perhaps that’s how we are with sin. Proverbs 5:22 tells us, “The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.” We had been bound by sin for so long that we remember being held captive and behave as if we still are. We fail to realize that in Christ Jesus, we are more powerful – ”more than conquerors through him who loved us” – than the chains of sin.
The hymn-writer, Charles Wesley, penned,
“He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.”
The songwriter, Chris Tomlin, penned,
“My chains are gone, I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me”
1 Peter 2:17 exhorts us to “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”
For who the Son sets free, is free indeed.