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JOSHUA 5:9-12

2 CORINTHIANS 5:16-21

LUKE 15:11-32

LENT REFLECTION (DAY 26- SUNDAY REFLECTION)

The theme for our reflection is independence without God is slavery. Independence is being free from outside control. A slave is a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them, slavery, therefore, is the state of being a slave. Apart from a person enslaving another, sin also renders a person slave so long as the person is under the control of sin. Sin enslaves us. Jesus confirms this fact in John 8:34 when He said that “..Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” The theme can be understood as a person who is perceived to be free remains the property of sin if such freedom is not given or guaranteed by God or if such freedom is not experienced under the Lordship of God. Dear friend, we shall proceed to deliberate on the theme by reflecting on three points that will enable us to experience genuine independence with God:

1. Until God set us free we are not independent from the bondage of sin
2. To remain independent and free from the slavery of sin is a choice everyone has to make.
3. God desires to reconcile those in slavery into a life of total independence.

Firstly beloved in the Lord, we must understand that until God declares us free or independent from the slavery of sin we remain under sin’s bondage. The Israelites had thought all along that they were independent and free from the slavery imposed upon them by Egypt but to God, they were still under the moral and spiritual bondage of sin most likely picked from Egyptians’ way of life. It will be noticed that “The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. (Joshua 5:6). After God had led through a journey of physical, moral and spiritual reformation, He then declared them fully independent when He said to Joshua in our first scripture reading that “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. Joshua 5:9. Dear friend in the Lord, moral and spiritual independence without God renders us slaves of sin. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1). Remember, that you are not independent or free from sin until you accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and your sins are forgiven by God. Total independence and freedom are granted by God through genuine repentance through faith and grace and not our misconceived self-righteousness with hidden sins lingering in our lives.

Secondly, although God grants total independence, the choice to accept and experience the independence and freedom from sin is ours to make individually. To remain independent and free from the slavery of sin is a choice everyone has to make. The prodigal son in the third Scripture reading from Luke 15:11-32 had this choice to make. He had hitherto enjoyed true independence under the guidance and love of the father until he took the decision to leave the life of true independence to a perceived life of independence which was actually the life of slavery. He found his father’s home, love and care to be restrictive therefore he thought there was a better option, liberty and independence outside his father’s house. After he experienced two different conditions, in other words, a life of independence and a life of suffering and slavery brought upon himself through disobedience, we are told that “… he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. (Luke 15:17-20) He finally made a choice to live a life of true independence and freedom from the bondage of sin and suffering. Dear friend in the Lord, what choice have you made so far? Has this choice brought you independence and freedom or suffering and guilt? Like the Prodigal son’s father, the Lord is eagerly waiting for you to make the right choice of choosing salvation and independence in Christ over the alluring, deceptive and destructive freedom the sin seeks to give us in the world. Remember that “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18). The choice is yours to make now!

Thirdly, it is important to understand that God desires to reconcile to Himself those who are in slavery for them to experience a total life of independence and salvation. It is for this reason Paul reminds us in the second Scripture reading that “… if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19. Dear friend in the Lord, let us use the lent season to reflect on our relationship with God. For those of us who are under the bondage of sin and are no longer experiencing the glory of God in our lives, let us come to Jesus and be reconciled to God so that we will experience independence and total liberation from sin. It is time to allow yourself to be created anew through your reconciliation to God and your life shall never be the same.

In summary beloved in the Lord, independence without God is slavery. To experience true and total independence, it must be given by God through repentance and faith, it must be an individual and deliberate decision or choice and last but not least, we must be willing to accept God’s desire to be reconciled to Him through our Lord and Master Jesus Christ to become new creations. May the Holy Spirit empower us to remain independent in the Lord even as we await the second coming of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ to usher us into the eternal life of total independence and genuine liberation. Amen.