Break FreeSample

The resurrection of Lazarus beautifully portrays this picture of the removal of bondages. Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus, who got sick and died. Sin works in like manner and it does not make us bad people, in fact, it does something worse, it makes us dead people. Nevertheless, Jesus came on the scene and spoke a word that raised Lazarus from the dead. Likewise, salvation only comes through Jesus and moves us from death to life. Lazarus was dead and bound with grave clothes, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said, “…’Loose him, and let him go,’”. In other words, Lazarus was alive, but bound with grave clothes.

When we spiritually die, it signifies that our enemy has bound us. It is an easy task for him to bind dead people, but it is nearly impossible for him to bind living people. The best way to avoid curses is to stay as close as possible to Holy Spirit. This is why the hardest target to hit is a moving target. These grave clothes covered his hands, feet, and face. Remember, Lazarus was alive, but bound in his walking (feet), working (hands), seeing and hearing (face). The Devil likes to bind our feet, so that we do not run after God. He also seeks to put a chain on our hands, so that we do not lift them in prayer and worship to our Savior. The enemy also binds our face, so that we do not see God, hear God, nor taste His wonderful presence.

When you are bound, it does not necessarily mean you are dead; it simply means you are restricted. There are times during a church service that I demonstrate this principle by taking duct tape and slowly taping a person’s ears, eyes, hands, and feet. Then I ask the bound person to try to walk. Everyone laughs, of course, because that person cannot see where he is walking. Then when that person tries to run, he cannot, so, instead, he attempts to jump. If that person is not careful, he can easily fall and hurt himself. I, then, tell the audience that this person represents a bound Christian, who is indeed alive but restricted. This type of Christian lacks consistency. One may think that if someone is truly born again, then that individual would not have this type of problem.

Lazarus was truly alive, yet he was bound. Maybe you are like Lazarus, you have been born again, but you still carry signs of grave clothes, past trauma, and chronic sicknesses passed on to you from one generation to another. It seems like everyone in your family line gets divorced, there are constant shortages of finances, you are accident prone, or a black cloud seems to follow you everywhere you go that withholds all of God’s blessings. Jesus commanded His followers to loosen Lazarus, which I am glad they did.