The Patterns of Captivity
To understand freedom, we must understand the nature of captivity.
Related words are captive and capture. The general meaning is bondage, restraint, slave, hostage, servitude, subjection, confinement, custody, incarceration, The verb form is to seize, to wrest, to catch, to entrap, to ensnare.
In the Bible forms of the word captivity are often used relating to Satan:
· 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. (2 Timothy 2:26)
· “Jesus answered them “Verily, verily, I say to you, Whosoever commiteth sin is the servant of sin.” (John 8:34)
· “For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” (Acts 8:23)
· “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage.” (2 Peter 2: 19)
The above is speaking of the captivity of the devil. Notice the wording: snare of the devil, taken captive by him at his will, servant of sin, gall of bitterness, servants of corruption, brought into bondage.
When speaking of Christ, however, we are given the following verses of freedom:
· “1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;” (Isaiah 61:1)
· “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
· “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1)
· “And ye shall know the truth and the truth, shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
· “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)
The opposite of captivity is liberty. In the above Christ promises to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to open the prison to them that are bound, and to make you free indeed.
Think of captivity as a prison where every activity is orchestrated like gerbils in a cage. Think of captivity not as a single event, such as a policeman saying, ‘In the name of the law, I arrest you.’ Think of captivity as a pattern, an arrested state of mind, a maze, a broad net. Those in captivity exhibit similar behavioral patterns which are very predictable, thus they are slaves to their own repetition. Those caught in the net cannot free themselves by simply denying themselves a pleasure or struggling harder to be free.
Recently, while entering the Jacksonville Beach in Florida, at the foot of the bridge, I read a warning sign that said:
“If caught in a rip current, don’t fight the current. Swim out of the current, then to shore.”
The rip current is too powerful to fight and will exhaust one’s energy thus causing drowning. The only way to escape is to “swim out of the current.”
There are many ‘rip currents’ in life, such as addictions, bad habits, depression, despair, negativity, hate, revenge, sin, evil desires. We must find a way to escape, often without direct confrontation. The warning sign at the beach also advised that it may be necessary to simply float until one can escape the current. Often in life’s ‘rip currents,’ the more one struggles, the greater becomes one’s entanglement like an insect in a spider’s web. A fighting fish sets the hook.
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