I recently had a chance to chat with one of my dearest friends, Alf Evans. Alf and his wife, Kelly, have followed God in obedience and moved their family to serve in Cambodia. Their mission is to help rescue and restore children out of sex trafficking and in to a new life in Jesus Christ. The task is, to say the least, HUGE. However, they, and we, believe and hope in the truth that our God is BIGGER.
During our conversation, Alf was telling me of some girls who had been rescued out of sex trafficking. These girls had been brought out of unthinkable bondage and shown freedom and the beginning of a new life. He went on to say that for several they continue to voluntarily go back into the very bondage they were freed from. The same hurt and damage that they were liberated from they walk back into with open eyes.
To say I was stunned and a little confused would be an understatement. Why would they do that? Why would they go back to something that they were set free from, that was harmful to them, and that didn’t lead to joy? Why would they voluntarily go back to something that told them a lie about who they were? Don’t they know that there is so much more for them outside of that life?
And right there, in that moment, it hit me – I do the very same thing. Jesus has freed me from the bondage of sin. Through Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection, I have been liberated from the grips of sin and have been ushered into freedom and a new life. Jesus has given me a new identity. I no longer have to be a part of the things that hurt me, that tell me lies about who I am. I no longer have to live a life that doesn’t lead to joy, but rather I can live in complete joy. But for some reason, I frequently look back, and with eyes open, walk back to the old life that I was set free from.
As much as it doesn’t make sense to me for these girls who have been rescued from sex trafficking to go back to it, it makes equally no sense for me to go back to the old way of life that I have been set free from.
Proverbs 26:11 describes very clearly what my choice to walk back into sin is like…
“Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.”
Jesus has so much more for me. Jesus has so much more for each of these girls. Jesus has so much more for you. While Satan would want nothing more than to steal, kill, and destroy our lives, Jesus came that each one of us may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). And He is incredibly patient and kind, lovingly pursuing each one of us until He captures our hearts and our lives for Him (Romans 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9).
May you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and live life abundantly today!
