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Ignorance is a Heavy Chain
Stop Carrying What Jesus Broke
Peter was set to be killed the next day. King Herod was so intent on it, that he chained Peter to two guards. That night, as he slept, an angel appeared in the cell, slipped the chains off Peter and woke him up.
He told Peter, "Get up and get dressed and get out of here!"
Peter, not quite sure if he was dreaming or not, grabbed his clothes and groggily looked towards the door. But before he took one step, he realized his chains would wake up the guards. So he quietly scooped them off the floor.
He made his way out of the prison, but the chains grew heavier by the minute. The weight of the chains and the malnourishment he suffered while being in prison became too much for him and he crumpled to he ground, exhausted.
Soon, he was found by the other prison guards. When Herod found out, he was infuriated, and executed him immediately.
In front of the Pearly Gates, Peter was asked why he was there so soon - he wasn't due to die for several more decades.
"The chains were too heavy," he replied, still visibly frustrated.
"The chains?" asked the bewildered angel, "Those chains were broken. Why were you carrying them?"
Thank God, that's not how it happened (you can read the real story here).
But many people are doing just that - dragging around heavy, broken chains.
Ignorance is a Heavy Chain
Some chains don’t rattle. They don’t scrape across the floor or lock around your wrists. They live in our assumptions. Our identity. Our coping mechanisms.
“That’s just how I am.”
That’s what makes ignorance such a heavy chain—it hides itself by pretending to be part of our identity. It weaves itself into our life and we are unaware of its presence. It feels normal.
Even believers drag around chains Jesus already broke—because it feels normal. Not because it’s true.
Hosea 4:6 warns, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.”
If you don't know you're free, you'll keep living like you're bound.
Every Chain Broken
We were not just “broken” people looking for healing. We were bound people who needed to be freed.
And that was accomplished in Jesus.
Galatians 5:1 declares, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free...”
John 8:34-36 says, “... if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
This is a fact - regardless of how you feel and regardless how unbelievable this may seem. This is reality.
Jesus already broke the chains. He broke more chains than we can imagine.
Our freedom is not about striving. It is not about us breaking them. It is about what Jesus did, and allowing this truth to settle deep into our souls so we can become as free as the One who freed us. The only fight is for us to believe and live it!
Drop the Broken Chains
Stop calling it "being authentic." Stop calling it "normal." Stop believing "I'm only human." Stop it and drop it (and roll)!
Ephesians 5:8-11 says “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ... Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
Romans 6:16 says “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
Many of us know these scriptures (and others), but our experience is not as supernatural as the biblical promises. We are free from God's judgment of sin, but we're still burdened in many areas.
You don’t have to explain away your anger, apathy, addiction, or anxiety as “just how I am.” You do not have to accept failure, negative self-image, self-doubt and condemnation. You do not have stay controlled by the weaknesses of your flesh, or a life absent of God's power.
Those are not random struggles. They are symptoms of slavery—the chains of darkness you lived in before Christ.
That’s not in-Christ identity. That’s spiritual gaslighting. That's ignorance.
Colossians 1 and Ephesians 1 provoke us to learn what it means for us to have been delivered. The chains are broken. The implications of this reality are life-altering if we would embrace it.
Jesus didn’t die so you could feel better while staying bound. He died and rose again so you could walk out of a dark prison—unshackled, unburdened, unashamed and empowered.
Galatians 5:1 declares (paraphrasing), “...don't pick the chains back up!”
Instead, trade them for a crown.