“Shake off the dust, rise up, ascend to the throne, Jerusalem; Loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter Zion!” Isaiah 52:2
You’ve most likely heard that an elephant never forgets. We usually think having a good memory is a good thing. But there’s a story about an elephant that reminds us some of the memories we hold onto might sometimes hold us back.
One day, a man was walking by an elephant camp where he noticed the elephants had a small rope tied around their front legs, nothing more. But despite this rope being too small to ever hold them back – not one of the elephants moved from where they stood.
When he asked about this, he was told the rope was tied around the elephants’ legs when they were smaller, back when that rope was sufficient enough to hold them. As they grew, the elephants only remembered the limitation of being tied. They held onto the memory that the rope kept them from going where they wanted to go, so they never tried to break free even though now they easily could. The elephants never realized they were stronger than the rope that held them.
It’s easy to look at those elephants and think, “How silly that those strong and amazing creatures let a little rope from their past hold them back.”
But don’t you suppose God might say the same to each of us when we let the past keep us from the future He wants us to have?
Is there something in your life that is holding you back from the joy the Lord wants you to have?
Maybe today is the day that freedom starts for you. God wants you to break the chain of your preconceived failures and limitations to be free, to be the strong and amazing creature He created you to be.
Amen? Amen!
Watering the Seeds
Are there mistakes or failures in your life that chain you to your past and limit you today?
What can you do today to begin breaking those chains?
