"Tied"

At times I was a-searchin’,

For some old steer that went,

Somewhere that he shouldn’t,

My Daddy always sent,

Me out to find the mavericks,

That had been gone so long,

They could not remember,

Where they once belonged.

Back then we didn’t dally,

But roped ‘em hard and fast,

And I did not know better,

When my rope I cast.

And that’s why in your pocket,

Was a real sharp knife,

Because you never knew when,

It might just save your life.

If you latched onto a heavy,

Seven-eight year old,

He may weigh a thousand,

And wild and crazy bold.

And if you got real lucky,

Tracked down and got a shot,

You might not be happy,

With the good luck that you got.

‘Cause once you got hold of him,

He might just come for you,

Your horse, he’d be a-dancin’,

And maybe buckin’ too.

You might think it easy,

To dodge and just stay clear,

But you can under-estimate,

The speed of that old steer.

And if it comes down to it,

And you can’t tie him tight,

To a stump or sapling,

You might just use your knife.

To cut the rope that binds you,

To that old bovine,

And if you do and get away,

You feel relief so fine.

And I see a life lesson,

Sometimes the thing we chase,

Becomes for us a danger,

And just like in the case,

Of that old steer we’re tied to,

We get tangled so,

Not easy to escape it,

Or cut loose, don’t you know.

But if the ties that bind us,

To what becomes a threat,

If we aren’t decisive,

We won’t get free yet.

But stay so long in bondage,

The habit is to stay,

Get dulled to the burden,

And never get away.

But Jesus came to free us,

From every rope and chain,

And if we let Him help us,

Our freedom we will gain.

“…wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom…” (2 Cor. 3:17, NLT)

The Spirit of Jesus sets us free. From what? Everything and anything that holds us back and keeps us from being all God intends. It might be something that is obviously perverse like a drug or sex addiction. Or it might be something that is morally neutral or otherwise good but has become idolatrous in our lives. Whatever isn’t God’s highest and best can be a bondage, but the Spirit’s power is great enough to liberate and heal us. He can cut the soul ties to a negative relationship, and heal our emotions. He can lead us into sobriety so that we don’t just white-knuckle through temptation but actually lose the desire to indulge our addictions. it’s freedom from the worst and to the best. It’s real, it happens, and it can happen to anyone who humbly asks the Lord to help them. He brings freedom. Every time.

Lord, set us free from everything that ties us to the wrong things, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Don Dane, dondane.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Don, and God bless you.