Slave or Free?

Slavery —what picture does this bring to your mind? I read recently of a beloved twelve-year-old African girl who was kidnapped, put onto a slave ship with over one hundred strangers, subjected to starvation and untold hardship for two or more months, put off the ship under the cover of darkness, had to hide in a dangerous and scary swamp for several nights and days, then was separated from all the other slaves, given in marriage to an older slave who spoke a different language, and then put with him on the auction block to be sold to the highest bidder. Can you imagine the anguish if this had been your little girl? This child was one of the final survivors of the Clotilda, the last ship to carry slaves, more than fifty years after the transporting of slaves had been ruled illegal.

From 1525 to 1866, more than twelve and a half million had been sold into slavery, almost two million of whom did not survive the trip.

The dead and the dying were dumped into the Atlantic like trash.

The conditions on the ships were so bad, up to 20 percent of the crew never made it to shore, having succumbed to illness or disease.

How fortunate that we are not slaves, sold into bondage to a living death! But wait —could there be another kind of slavery? Could you and I be lulled into a false security? Satan is determined to do everything possible to rob us of eternal life.

He is cruel and calculating. His deceptions are sly; his net, entangling. Without Jesus and the Word of God, what defense do we have? When temptations come that are questionable, He is our refuge and strength.

We are told, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7, NKJV). There is a fine line between legalism and obedience born of love. One is slavery; the other is freedom.

We have an opportunity each morning to make a commitment to live for Jesus and not for self. Hard things are not accomplished without a struggle; the pull of habits is strong. Yet the power of the Holy Spirit is stronger still.

We can avail ourselves of that power and claim victory in the name of the One who is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, NKJV). We were not meant to be slaves but daughters of a loving heavenly Father. Freedom can be ours, and for that, we can rejoice!

Lila Farrell Morgan