Is my heart really bound? To be honest, sometimes yes. Ok, probably more often than I realize especially in my relationship with God and with others. So what would it take to "unbind" my heart?
I am reminded of the Bible story of Jesus standing at the tomb of Lazarus. Lazarus had been dead for four days so he was really dead. Moments earlier Jesus was overcome with grief and cried at the loss of this friendship. Now he spoke a word of command:
"Roll the stone away."
"But, Jesus...."
He must have given them that look... and they did roll the stone away.
He then prayed and cried out with a loud voice,
"Lazarus, come out."
I have no idea how he did that, but Lazarus, bound in strips of burial cloth, came walking out of the tomb! "Unbind him and set him free," instructed Jesus.
What would Jesus have to do to "unbind" our hearts?
Relationship with God
There are so many ways that we can be bound in our relationship with God. Why did something happen, like an illness? Why does God allow war and violence? Famine is not a game to be played. Where is God when I feel so alone?
Relationhips with Others
There are times when we are terrified to really let someone else know what we are thinking or feeling. The Unbinding Your Heart small groups involve prayer and prayer partners. That is threatening for many of us! There are times when this study talks about the e-word. Yea - "evangelism." There are so many images of evangelism and many of them are scary. We don't like scary things to happen; we don't like to not be in control. So we avoid those things, like evangelism.
Unbinding Your Heart
This series could just as easily be called Unbinding Our Hearts because that is the primary way that God is seeking to set us free. With the Holy Spirit's guidance, there is freedom in sharing our faith with one another and praying with each other. In the midst of this community, we are also growing in our relationship with God!
I am reminded of the Bible story of Jesus standing at the tomb of Lazarus. Lazarus had been dead for four days so he was really dead. Moments earlier Jesus was overcome with grief and cried at the loss of this friendship. Now he spoke a word of command:
"Roll the stone away."
"But, Jesus...."
He must have given them that look... and they did roll the stone away.
He then prayed and cried out with a loud voice,
"Lazarus, come out."
I have no idea how he did that, but Lazarus, bound in strips of burial cloth, came walking out of the tomb! "Unbind him and set him free," instructed Jesus.
What would Jesus have to do to "unbind" our hearts?
Relationship with God
There are so many ways that we can be bound in our relationship with God. Why did something happen, like an illness? Why does God allow war and violence? Famine is not a game to be played. Where is God when I feel so alone?
Relationhips with Others
There are times when we are terrified to really let someone else know what we are thinking or feeling. The Unbinding Your Heart small groups involve prayer and prayer partners. That is threatening for many of us! There are times when this study talks about the e-word. Yea - "evangelism." There are so many images of evangelism and many of them are scary. We don't like scary things to happen; we don't like to not be in control. So we avoid those things, like evangelism.
Unbinding Your Heart
This series could just as easily be called Unbinding Our Hearts because that is the primary way that God is seeking to set us free. With the Holy Spirit's guidance, there is freedom in sharing our faith with one another and praying with each other. In the midst of this community, we are also growing in our relationship with God!
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