NOT FOR SALE

(Post by: Madie Hobbs)

When the new film “Sound of Freedom” came out I was extremely apprehensive about seeing it, as many of you know if you listened to Lilly and my podcast episode regarding it. However, I knew, without a doubt it was something everyone needed to see, especially Christians.

The main message of the entire film, and of the human trafficking prevention organization the film was centered around, was “God’s children are not for sale.” It was a powerful sentiment repeated over and over again throughout the movie, and one that echoes through the minds of every person who watched the film for weeks after.

It certainly continues to echo through my mind.

However, I’m not only reminded of it when I think about the horrors related to human trafficking. It constantly resounds through my thoughts as a message the average Christian, and the Church as a whole, needs to get ahold of.

While human trafficking represents the physical slavery so many of God’s children are entrapped in, there is also a spiritual slavery permeating every area of our lives.

The sad part is, Christians don’t need a monster to sell them. At this moment, we are selling ourselves.

You may think that sounds like a harsh opinion, or an overly negative outlook on life, but rest assured I have sold myself to the things of the world time and time again. As have you. As have the people around us. Every day we make decisions regarding our slavery and what we will do about it. Every day we decide whether to plunge ourselves more deeply into our bondage, or whether to work on extricating ourselves from it.

We have sold ourselves to our workplaces and prized the money they give us above all else in our lives. We have sold ourselves to companies who laugh to the point of tears at the way we will pay to support the very organizations we pretend to abhor. We have sold ourselves to our followers on social media and valued their opinion of us more than the Lord’s. We have sold ourselves to politicians, who in return for our vehement support promise us a better future that never seems to arrive. We have sold our children to the public school system and wonder why 1 in 6 Gen Z adults now identify as something other than straight. We have sold ourselves to people who will fill our heads with philosophies we know are not true but help us to justify our lifestyles.

We have all sold ourselves to something. We have all sat in slavery so long the thought of pursuing a radical freedom causes us to hug the chains biting into our skin more tightly. Because we have convinced ourselves that we are not the ones in chains. “Oh, these old things,” we say. “No, they aren’t chains at all. They’re the things keeping us sane. They’re the things keeping us comfortable. They’re the things helping us to make decisions.”

We sell ourselves with a smile plastered across our face.

This must not be the end though.

There is a Person who has offered to take on our chains. Who has already felt the sting of our slave masters’ whips. Who has said, “Look, see your chains. Now see how I am willing to take them on. You hold the key to loose your shackles in your very own hands. Give them to me.”

There is a person who took our chains and buried them in an empty tomb. Who left them to die so we may live with Him in complete freedom.

But the choice still lies with us.

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1 ESV).

We are the keepers of our keys. We are the guard standing outside our own cells. We are the worshippers of the world.

We can also be, however, the one who turns the key. The one who breaks the pattern of comfort and idolatry and reaches out of our slavery to take the hand of Jesus, who is reaching back so desperately.

God’s children are not for sale. Let’s take ourselves off the market.

SO, WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?

= What have you sold yourself to?

= What are you going to differently?