For about 13 years I was the proud owner of "Budkis" a St. Bernard that we had seen grow from a tiny puppy to a 170# giant of a dog. He was more than a pet, he was part of the family.
Well, when Budkis was about 6 or so, he started to consistently wander off of our 3 acres of land and "do his business" on our neighbors porch. Needless to say our neighbor was not to excited about a 170# mammoth of a mammal dropping several pounds of waste product right in front of his door, so we had to start chaining Budkis to his dog house.
After a few days of being chained to his house, he had totally worn all the grass out around his house. There was a solid dirt circle where Budkis has worn out all the plush green turf around his home.
I noticed one day that Budkis was standing right on the ledge of the dirt, getting as close to the grass and 3 acres of property as the chain would allow him to travel. He was miserable. I knew he wanted to run around and enjoy all the land around him, but he couldn't because his chain was holding him back. So I went out to him, reached under his chin and unlatched the chain and put it on the ground. As I walked away, I noticed that Budkis was still standing there, right on the ledge of the grass. He was just staring out into the yard. So I started to call to him, "Budkis, come here boy, Budkis, come on, lets run". But he never came, he just stood there. I could tell he wanted to run toward freedom, but he didn't.
That's when I realized, he thinks, he is still chained to the house. He doesn't realize that I set him free. So I went back to Budkis, looked him in the eye, grabbed the chain and shook it real hard. When he heard the rattle of the chain, he knew he was free and he exploded away from the dirt he had been standing in for days and ran around in the yard. In fact he didn't stay in my yard long, before I knew it he was over at the neighbors house dropping of a rather large package.
Here is the deal, many Christians, are a lot like my dog Budkis. Before they knew Christ, their sins, their past, their lifestyle held them back from experiencing the freedom that God had for them. Because of the chains in their heart, there was only so far they could go in life. Like my Dog they wanted to be free, but they weren't. They were being held captive.
Then Jesus came along. He reached deep inside their heart and unchained them from the shackles of sin, mistakes, and previous limitations. Like me calling Budkis, Christ turned to them and started calling for them to walk in this new found freedom they had in Christ. But many just stayed there, thinking they were still tied to their past, tied to their lies, tied to their habits, their lifestyle and their limitations. Never really realizing that "who the son has set free is free indeed". Because of Christ they are absolutely free. There is nothing holding them to their past ...except themselves. The sorry truth is many Christians never experience the joy of running toward the life that Christ died on the cross for them to experience.
When I stop and think about it, the same is true for many Christian leaders. As leaders we have a path, an area that we have always walked in. We have ways that we have always done things. And many times we as leaders are dooped into thinking, it's always going to be this way. We have to stay where we've always been, we have to do what we've always done, we don't have enough money, talent or skills to go where we would like to go and do what we would like to for God's kingdom.
We want to start that ministry. We want to grow our church. We want to remodel that building. We want to be a better speaker. We want to go to knew places in our leadership development. But we don't. Not because we can't. But because we tie ourselves to our limitations, and our past experiences.
So like Budkis, many Christian Leaders just stand there, thinking, hoping, wishing they could run out and experience all the things that always seem to be just outside their reach.
If you are a Christian leader you need to realize..."Who the son has set free is free indeed".
Nothing is holding you back...except yourself. Christ has set you free and he is calling you to move to new heights, to do new things, to lead in different ways than you have ever led before.
So shake off the fear, shake off the wrong thinking, shake off the compromise, as well as your past history and run toward the future God is calling you to.
"Who the son has set free is free indeed.....so run!"
