It was while watching the old kid’s show “Fraggle Rock” that I heard the phrase that kinda hit me–hard. One of the Fraggles, Wembley, found himself a captive of the Gorgs, only in his mind he was appreciated, accepted, loved, and felt important and that he mattered. However, a few of his friends were captured by the Gorgs, and by Wembley’s intervention were given a “fair” trial. When he convinces the Gorgs who seem to think they are the King and Queen of the universe, the “king” decides to spare the lives of the Fraggles and instead “make them their slaves, like Wembley.”
I know you’re probably wondering why any of this is significant, but the significance comes when Wembley confesses to his friends, “…I didn’t realize what they were doing to me until I saw them trying to do it to you. I guess sometimes slavery feels a lot like freedom.”
Isn’t this true with sin? In our hearts, we desire all sorts of things: intimacy, joy, pleasure, freedom, appreciation, love, acceptance, and the list goes on…The problem is both the sinful nature of our hearts, and the sinful temptations of the world ensnare us in things that promise to give us what we desire, but never deliver, or worse–we get what we want, but not what we need. Even good things become twisted up when we pursue them selfishly. As a result we become enslaved to those things as we make them gods in our lives, and as we become enslaved we become blind to our enslavement…until we see it happening to someone else.
Wembley was able to wake up in time to escape enslavement with his friends, and was lucky enough to have friends that cared for him enough to rescue him when he didn’t think he needed it and was comfortable where he is.
Perhaps you need friends like that in your life now, or, you have friends in your life who need you to do that for them. Wherever you find yourself today, yesterday, next week, etc., recall that Jesus Christ has already purchased your freedom and he fought for you when you didn’t know you needed it, so that one day, when you wake up like Wembley, you will also be able to escape from slavery.
I highly recommend reading the entire book of Romans which thoroughly dissects the Gospel, but if you are short on time, then you should consider reading Romans 7 and 8 which really touches on this subject.
Thanks for reading!
~Angelique
