Break Every Chain

This morning, I woke up and new that it was a beautiful day, so I put on my clothes and took my computer and journal outside to the porch. I was listening to a station I made on Pandora for Jesus Culture and I had listened to a few songs already when a song played with the lyrics "there is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain." The song was so powerful and the lyrics so moving that I doodled it in my journal.

Moments later, a neighbor's dog came up to me. She's a beautiful dog who recently had puppies. Sometimes when she walks over to our house, two or three little pups will be trailing her like little ducklings. Today was different though. No puppies were following her, and she didn't look very happy. There was a chain around her neck that appeared too tight. It was so long that it was getting caught in her back paws when she walked up to see me.

 After talking to my parents about it, I spent some time just sitting with her in the yard. Its amazing to me how just sitting and petting an animal can show them love in ways they might not ever get at home. When she was laying in the grass, I noticed that the chain was not only too tight, it was rubbing against her skin so much that it was raw and almost bleeding. At that point I knew I couldn't just leave it on her. I got some pliers and freed her from the chain.

I love metaphors.

Sometimes we are like that poor, sad dog wandering for help just looking for someone who can release us from the chains that bind us to our sin and things of this world. There is only one who can truly remove that bondage that we feel. His name is powerful enough to break ANY chain.