Why would a person choose to go back to the bondage…?
Why would a people choose to go back to the bondage that the devil promotes? Truthfully, as long as people live on this current earth, the opportunity for bondage will be presented in many ways and it takes greater than natural will power to overcome. Look at the many persons during the pandemic who submitted to being experimented on even though they did not want to and must have tried very hard to resist.
However, trying hard contradicts the scripture which says, “not by might, not by power but by the Spirit of God.” (Zechariah 4: 6). Trying hard ratifies the old adage that says, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again.” When we compare those two sayings, we see the former being the way God intends for humanity and the latter being the results of sin which man, outside of Jesus, is still under the influence and control of. When I was at primary school, I remember having to study that saying and reciting it daily. I believed in it. I am sure the teachers then thought they were doing a very good thing. It was a world – system and it held true and useful for me until the eyes of my understanding were enlightened. ‘Hard – labour and self-effort’ was the game then and it is still the principle being taught now.
At this point the scriptures in Genesis 3: 15 – 19 need clarification. When satan was chosen by Adam through disobedience to God, everything became cursed because that is what satan does and is. Whatever is under his lordship is cursed and when God spoke to Adam, He told him that in choosing the devil as lord, he had chosen hard labour and toiling. God did not and never designed the curse because there is no curse in Him. Had He given the curse to humanity, then it would be a good thing and Jesus would never have had to take it away from us. God doesn’t make mistakes, so He wouldn’t give us evil and then send His Son to redeem us from evil. Similarly, He did not design hard labour and toiling (working hard for very little or no reward) but He described it well for Adam (humanity). This is your choice, in other words, and these are the results of making satan your lord. He has nothing but hardship for you and we all know that all too well.
The principles of exponential and logarithmic growth…
It is rather unfortunate that people, including Christians, have settled into the reality of the “try, try and try again” mentality and struggle to give credence to God’s design in Zechariah 4:6. The former is a false belief. Governments and employers have formalized it too. It was never God’s plan for man. For mankind, God has instituted Ephesians 3:20– 20 Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us.
[Math analogy #1: Infinity has no end to it. Positive infinity is to the extreme right of the number line. It represents no end in the positive direction. The principle of logarithm and exponential growth are good representation of how our walk in Christ would look if we were to graph (y) knowledge vs time (x) for all values of x > 0. Therefore, if we plot y = e^x or y = ln x for values of x that are greater than 0, you will see curve that goes upward, not consistently proportionate, to the right of the graph unto infinity. The graph of our lives as believers could look like y = x, for all x >0. This is constant, increasing hunger and resulting spiritual growth, with no slowing down periods.]
Just to be clear, we are not speaking about laziness. (If anyone has told you that being a Believer is a pathway to laziness, you need to reject that statement and seek the Truth. Stay on this site!)
The life of a Believer is one of diligence, and committing to obeying the Spirit of the Lord
This is not just to sit back and do nothing.
It is about trusting, obeying and yielding to the One Who is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient. He is the One Who created us and lives in us to direct us, help us, guide us, bless us, empower us, love us.
This is the life for God’s masterpiece!