--BREAKING BONDAGE / ONLY JESUS CAN ~~

"And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither to look thereon." --[Revelation 5:3]
--[Read Revelation 5] --

---Before conversion, our life is sealed like the book in today's Bible reading. We are kept in bondage to Satan. We are utterly helpless to break the seals of bondage in our life, even by strong willpower. Man is able to accomplish some incredible things, but he is not able to control his inward bent toward sin without Christ ruling his heart. A closed book denotes a closed life full of hidden sins, which are detestable to God. There are sins of the body, soul, and spirit, and there are sins of thought, word an deed. No man is able to release himself from bondage to all those sins.

John "wept much" (Revelation 5:4), and weeping is appropriate for us when we are convicted of sin and see our true condition before God. "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death" (Romans 7:24). We become broken before God and we yield ourselves to Him. Not the Lion (Jesus) is able to break the seals of sin's bondage in our life. He takes those sins away and replaces them with the beautiful virtues know as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Our weeping and wretchedness is replaced by worship and singing a new song. It is the song of redemption.: "Thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation." The conditions for being redeemed are simple, though people sometimes make them complex by adding their own terms.

When we repent and turn to God, we can be assured that He will forgive us and receive us as His children. Then we too can sing the new song of the redeemed in praise to the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world, King Jesus. ~~

--BSW/DY~