Some things, however, may continue to keep you bound even after years of being a Christian. Martha and Mary led Jesus to Lazarus tomb. A crowd of mourners, family, friends and neighbors followed Mary from the house to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.
Roll the stone aside, Jesus told them. John 11:40. Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out." Lazarus hobbled out of the tomb. John 11:44
explains: "And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth." Jesus said to them, "Loose him and let him go." Lazarus was alive after being dead for four days, but he was not yet free. The smell of death was still on him, and he was bound hand and foot.
I want you to see this, Lazarus. His neighbors, friends and family unwrapped the grave clothes to finally set Lazarus free. Jesus didn't do it. His disciples didn't do it. The community Lazarus lived in loosed him and set him free.
Christians are made alive with Christ's love and forgiveness when we're born again. But we need help to break free from the grave clothes wrapped around us again and again by a lifetime of selfishness and sin. Many Christians accept Jesus as Savior, but never get rid of their grave clothes.
They're hobbled by their grave clothes all their lives. Instead of the sweet fragrance of Jesus, these people have the stench of death on them. They're bound hand and foot by old attitudes, old soul wounds, old relationships, old ideas and beliefs from their past. They never break free from the influences of their sin, even though their sin has been removed and forgiven.
Restoration is not a journey we can make alone. God knew we'd never be able to remove a lifetime of sin and selfishness by ourselves. He gave us Holy Spirit living inside us to guide us and to empower us. And God made us part of his body here on the earth, his congregation of believers.
God uses other people in this process of healing and restoring all that has been stolen from you by Satan, your selfishness and your sin. Ephesians 4:16
says, for his body has been formed in his image and is closely joined together and constantly connected as one and every member has been given divine gifts to contribute to the growth of all. And as these gifts operate effectively throughout the whole body, we're built up and made perfect in love.
Ephesians 4 says, God gave us gifts to help us Christian leaders and, uh, our brothers and sisters in Christ, like Lazarus. You may need help. I did, and I still do. If you've been struggling with something from your past that you keep tripping over, go to someone in your church who loves you to get help. This can set you free, and God wants you to be free.