Focus: Free Yourself

Text: Zech.2:7

"Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon."

How much do you want freedom? Are you not sick and tired of being in bondage? Why crawl when you can fly or soar? Why settle at the bottom when you can rise to the top? Why relax with the good when the best is available? Why stay small when greatness beckons? What effort are you making to free yourself from the pool of mediocrity and under-achievement? The Lord Jesus Christ once asked an impotent man, "Wilt thou be made whole?" In essence, Jesus was asking him, 'Do you want to get well? How well do you want wellness and wholeness?' Are you desirous of living and doing better in life? How intentional are you about living life to the fullest and fulfilling God's will for your life?

Zechariah, under divine inspiration, is speaking to the Jews in faraway Babylon where they have been in captivity for a long time. He says in essence, 'Your time of freedom has come. Get up and get out. Go back home to your city of Zion. Trial time is over for you. You can break free from the bondage of Babylon.'

You can do something to change your story. No force can stop you if you are willing and ready to change. You can part ways with failure and defeat. It is only a matter of how much you want your freedom.

God says to Israel, 'You have been around this mountain for too long. It is about time you moved on. This is not the promised land.' No place is good enough that is not God's place for you. Also, staying where God has moved away from is bad enough. A good place becomes the worst place if God is no longer there.

Jabez became sick and tired of low living. He wanted more out of life. Why stay small and same when life has more to offer? Jabez prayed himself out of a miserable situation. Jacob stayed away from his family and spent a night fighting for a change. He earnestly wanted change in his life and desperately fought for it. In the end he triumphed. God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. He settled issues with his God.

You can free yourself. Regardless of where you have found yourself in this world, you can move from the end of the tether to the top of the ladder. Do you have the desire and determination to turn around the current story of your life?

The Lord Jesus says to a church, "I know…where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith…where Satan dwelleth" (Rev.2:13). In the worst of places the church held on to the name of Christ and stood fast in the faith. They would not bow to pressure or succumb to gimmicks from the pit of hell.

Right now you can break free and stay free. That yoke in your life must be broken. You are from a child of Zion. Babylon is only a place of temporary abode, and it is about time you left. You can't afford to live forever in a temporary place.

You can deliver yourself by linking up with the right company. Find your helpers. Paul says, "Greet Priscilla and Aquila my HELPERS in Christ Jesus… Salute Urbane, our HELPER in Christ…" (Rom.16:3,9). He also says, "Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are HELPERS OF YOUR JOY: for by faith ye stand… Ye all are PARTAKERS OF MY GRACE" (2Cor.1:24; Phil.1:7). God has positioned certain persons to help you overcome your condition. You can share in another's grace. Someone can help your joy to overflow.

God will bless those who bless you and help those who help you. The Scripture says, "Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and PEACE BE TO THINE HELPERS; FOR THY GOD HELPETH THEE…" (1Chron.12:18). What we call 'help' does not fall heaven. Rather, God uses other people to help us. Be open and humble enough to receive divine helpers. Free yourself now!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter