Breaking the Chains of Sin
I read a story about a pet hamster named Hammy who had it about as good as a hamster could have it; he had a nice little cage with soft aromatic cedar shavings, a little bottle with fresh water and one of those exercise wheels to keep him in shape. However, no one really explained to Hammy what his new exercise gadget was all about, so he had to figure it out for himself. Rather than stepping inside the wheel and taking it for a spin, he climbed to the top of the wheel and decided to take a nap. Just about the time he got situated on his back, the wheel began to slowly turn, then faster and faster until CLUNK, Hammy landed on his head. He stood there stunned, shook his head, evidently smarting a bit from the unexpected landing.
What do you suppose he did next? You guessed it, back to the top he went for another painful trip. You’d think after a couple trips like this, he would figure it out, unfortunately it took a while. But you know, hamsters are not the only creatures that do things like that.
People are creatures of habit. We do certain things and act certain ways simply because that’s the way we have seen it done. And even though we observe the painful outcome of some of those behaviors, for some reason we still feel compelled to do them again.
People are chained by habitual sins. Repeat a wrong behavior, and you have the formula for a sinful habit. Multiply this response over the course of months and years and you have habitual sin. Proverbs 5:22 speaks of the wicked as being “holden with the cords of his sins”. Essentially, he is chained by his sins. Sin becomes his master, and he becomes its slave.
Jesus came to break the chains of sin. Verses like Isaiah 61:1 mention this prophetically and encounters like the one at Gadara in Mark 5 illustrate it practically. Those of us, who know Christ as our Savior, need not be chained to our sinful behaviors. Like the wild man of Gadara, we can be free. Sin no longer has dominion over us. (Romans 6:14)
If you’re struggling with sins like anger, fornication, envy, strife, jealousy, lust, laziness, or unforgiveness, the Bible makes it plain, you can be free. Even addictive sins like smoking, drinking, gambling, and porno-graphic viewing can be defeated. You need to stop living like Hammy and access the power of Christ to break the chains of your sin.