The Cage
Upon request of Big Spoon, I will post something I wrote some two years ago. It is a good illustration and might help someone. It is a little long, but read through if you have time.
The Cage
“Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as a slave, you are slaves to the one whom you obey- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." Romans 6: 16-18
“Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as a slave, you are slaves to the one whom you obey- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." Romans 6: 16-18
There is a land, and that land is as a great wide field, it is endless. And in this field there are a countless number of cages, steel bared with no doors. In each cage lives a man or a woman. These men and women have lived their whole lives not knowing of their captivity. They have never seen true freedom, thus did not see the bars that enslaved them.
But one day on a road passing through the field walked a free man, not chained or bound. Seeing this man free those in the cages saw the bars of their captivity for the first time. Many became frantic, many angry, and all were in sorrow, because of the realization of their bondage. They yelled and screamed at the free man, cursing him for they thought he had put them in their cage. Many knew he had not but still cursed him, because he was free and they were not. But in a cage closer to the road, there was a man who saw this free man in a different light. In his heart he had neither anger nor fear of this free man. He had a tugging in his heart to ask the man about his new found enslavement.
“Pardon Sir, could I please talk to you?” the caged man asked.
The freeman hearing this walked quickly to the caged man and said “Of course.”
“How is it Sir that you are free to walk on that road, and I am here in this cage? I never knew of it before I saw you, how did it come that I am bound?”
“Dear friend, it has always been there, you were born into captivity and never knew of it, you and all the others have lived in a cage since your birth, and most of them will not leave. For they have not accepted the truth, and many will die without knowing freedom.”
“What truth is this that makes men free?” the caged man asked.
“It is a simple truth, that you are not your own. That you through your own choices have built this cage stronger the longer you have lived. When you were born the cage was small as you were, but the longer with out knowing the truth it grew as you did, further keeping you from freedom.” He responded.
“How then is it that you are free then? I have not seen any other free men.” the caged man asked.
“I was let out of my cage. We can not let our selves out, for there are no doors, nor any tools to free ourselves. We are only at the mercy of the Master to let us out.” He said.
“Master, I have never heard of this Master, nor have I seen or spoken with him, who may I ask is he?”
“He has always been here waiting for the day that you would; search, look for, call for, and ask that he may come into your life. He is a good and gentle Master, one that does not beat or bruise those who serve him but one who loves and frees the ones that follow him. But for those that have separated themselves form him by their cage, he can not free them unless they call upon him.” The free man told him.
All of this revelation did not seem new to the man, he knew the tugging in his heart to question the free man had not come to him by chance, but by another. He then asked the free man, “How do I call upon the Master, how do I ask him to free me, that I might serve him and not my self.”
The free man said, “However you say it, through words or thoughts, or a simple cry, he will hear you and will come if your heart is pure in wanting to receive him. For no bars, no cage, nothing can stop his mercy for those who are willing to receive it.”
The man in the cage, saying in words what his heart felt asked the master to open his cage, to let him be free that he may serve Him. When he finished, his cage was gone, and so was the freeman who was on the road. The caged man now a freeman began walking the road. Some time later he passed a section in the endless field where there were more cages. Those in their cages saw him, and yelled curses at him, but through the hectic sounds of the angry prisoners, he heard a small voice ask him “Sir Pardon, can I speak to you.”…
Sin is like a cage it holds us in captivity and separates us from God. The field is the world, full of false ideals, a waste land were nothing fruitful can be found. The road is a separation from the world, the Christian life. The road, that those who have found the truth may walk on it and show others freedom in their lives that others might seek the source for their own redemption. The mockers and cursers in their cage are those who are presented with the truth and deny it, but the one who calls out to question is the lost sheep who wants to come home to the Shepard, and learns to walk the road spreading the Good News.
The cage of sin, it is a tool of separation, a device of captivity, binding those within its hold. But by the grace of God are we redeemed. His love and mercy has washed the sin from our spirits that we may have freedom, and eternal life.
So dear friends if you are still in bondage call out for help, and if you are on the road of freedom do not walk with out stopping when someone calls out and ask to talk to you. For by your walk with God will men see the Truth in this world, Christ lives in us and will use you for the building of his kingdom if you will only let him.
But one day on a road passing through the field walked a free man, not chained or bound. Seeing this man free those in the cages saw the bars of their captivity for the first time. Many became frantic, many angry, and all were in sorrow, because of the realization of their bondage. They yelled and screamed at the free man, cursing him for they thought he had put them in their cage. Many knew he had not but still cursed him, because he was free and they were not. But in a cage closer to the road, there was a man who saw this free man in a different light. In his heart he had neither anger nor fear of this free man. He had a tugging in his heart to ask the man about his new found enslavement.
“Pardon Sir, could I please talk to you?” the caged man asked.
The freeman hearing this walked quickly to the caged man and said “Of course.”
“How is it Sir that you are free to walk on that road, and I am here in this cage? I never knew of it before I saw you, how did it come that I am bound?”
“Dear friend, it has always been there, you were born into captivity and never knew of it, you and all the others have lived in a cage since your birth, and most of them will not leave. For they have not accepted the truth, and many will die without knowing freedom.”
“What truth is this that makes men free?” the caged man asked.
“It is a simple truth, that you are not your own. That you through your own choices have built this cage stronger the longer you have lived. When you were born the cage was small as you were, but the longer with out knowing the truth it grew as you did, further keeping you from freedom.” He responded.
“How then is it that you are free then? I have not seen any other free men.” the caged man asked.
“I was let out of my cage. We can not let our selves out, for there are no doors, nor any tools to free ourselves. We are only at the mercy of the Master to let us out.” He said.
“Master, I have never heard of this Master, nor have I seen or spoken with him, who may I ask is he?”
“He has always been here waiting for the day that you would; search, look for, call for, and ask that he may come into your life. He is a good and gentle Master, one that does not beat or bruise those who serve him but one who loves and frees the ones that follow him. But for those that have separated themselves form him by their cage, he can not free them unless they call upon him.” The free man told him.
All of this revelation did not seem new to the man, he knew the tugging in his heart to question the free man had not come to him by chance, but by another. He then asked the free man, “How do I call upon the Master, how do I ask him to free me, that I might serve him and not my self.”
The free man said, “However you say it, through words or thoughts, or a simple cry, he will hear you and will come if your heart is pure in wanting to receive him. For no bars, no cage, nothing can stop his mercy for those who are willing to receive it.”
The man in the cage, saying in words what his heart felt asked the master to open his cage, to let him be free that he may serve Him. When he finished, his cage was gone, and so was the freeman who was on the road. The caged man now a freeman began walking the road. Some time later he passed a section in the endless field where there were more cages. Those in their cages saw him, and yelled curses at him, but through the hectic sounds of the angry prisoners, he heard a small voice ask him “Sir Pardon, can I speak to you.”…
Sin is like a cage it holds us in captivity and separates us from God. The field is the world, full of false ideals, a waste land were nothing fruitful can be found. The road is a separation from the world, the Christian life. The road, that those who have found the truth may walk on it and show others freedom in their lives that others might seek the source for their own redemption. The mockers and cursers in their cage are those who are presented with the truth and deny it, but the one who calls out to question is the lost sheep who wants to come home to the Shepard, and learns to walk the road spreading the Good News.
The cage of sin, it is a tool of separation, a device of captivity, binding those within its hold. But by the grace of God are we redeemed. His love and mercy has washed the sin from our spirits that we may have freedom, and eternal life.
So dear friends if you are still in bondage call out for help, and if you are on the road of freedom do not walk with out stopping when someone calls out and ask to talk to you. For by your walk with God will men see the Truth in this world, Christ lives in us and will use you for the building of his kingdom if you will only let him.
Peace in Christ!
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