Living “Off the Chain“
1. The Word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan, commander of the imperial guard, had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon.
2. When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place.”
3. “And now the Lord has brought it about; He has done just as He said He would.” “All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey Him.”
4. “But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don’t come. Look the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.”
Jeremiah 40:1-4
When Other Folks Problems Get You in Trouble
You might say that Jeremiah the prophet was in a bad position. Or was he? So often, we interpret the uncomfortable places in life to be the wrong places because in our minds, life should be smooth sailing and free of all conflict. For Jeremiah, carrying a burden for people was quite common. As a spokesman for Jehovah, the duties included giving people messages they did not want to hear, repeating the Word of Judgment for which they did not want to face, and often suffering with them as God’s Word was being fulfilled. The prophet was not above the people, this true prophet was among fellow Israelites and had to face the same hardships they faced. The purpose of this message is to demonstrate how believers can live in a hostile world just like others and still be free from the bondage of the world. It is called: living off the chain.
When we consider Jeremiah’s position, we must reflect on the fact that he was among the captives of Jerusalem and Judah during the invasion of the Babylonian army around 586 B.C. He witnessed the death of many of his countrymen. Jeremiah saw the violence that was unleashed upon his nation and was counted among the captives who were being deported to Babylon. Yet, this was not some new reality for him. The scenario was playing out exactly as he had warned for years. The wickedness of his people had finally reached the judgment point and there was no more delaying the punishment. Yet rather than standing on the sidelines and shouting, “I told you so,” this broken hearted prophet was among the fellow Israelites “sharing their burden of bondage.” What an amazing picture of how Jesus would bear our burden of sin and take on the load of all human cares! For that reason, we should rejoice that Jesus came to be among us and was numbered with the transgressors. We should no longer live the chained life.
How Do Others Put Us in Chains
In Jeremiah’s life, there were those who hated his words so much that they persecuted him whenever they had the opportunity. It started with the angry mob who wanted to stone him to death because he dared to tell them about their idol worship and sinful practices. Then things got political for the prophet and the elected officials said that his negative message was too discouraging for the people. They placed Jeremiah in the stocks to teach him a lesson on positive encouragement. When they set him free, Jeremiah went right back preaching the same Word of God that had got him in trouble in the first place. Then certain of the leaders thought that Jeremiah might be right so they took his written messages to the king to get his opinion. As the king sat and listened, he took each page of prophecy and cut them with a pen knife and threw the prophets messages into the fire. (see Jeremiah 36:20-26). They even threw Jeremiah into a well to get rid of him, because they hated his message of truth.
In all his struggles, the Lord kept urging the prophet to keep preaching and declaring God’s Truth. Finally, as predicted, the day came when Jerusalem fell to the siege of the Babylonian army. What did Jeremiah do? He remained faithful to God and faithful to the people he had tried to warn. When they were chained, Jeremiah was chained. All the persecutions they faced; he faced them with the people.
The prophets struggles reveals five things that others can do to put us in chains and try to rob us of our witness for God. If we give them control over our life, their problems will become our problems. Their need to yank the chain will have us so frustrated and turned around in our thinking. If we are not careful, that same chain could steal our joy and our testimony. The goal is to be free of the chains. Only then can we live life “off the chain.”
Judgmental attitudes of others will often put people in chains. This is not merely those who offer their opinions to help improve. Oh no. These are the kinds of folk who will never be satisfied no matter what you do. Wayne Dyer says, “judgment of others prevents us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.” Many innocent folks have been falsely labeled as “bad” simply because they looked or acted differently. Not only does that cheat the judged person out of their otherwise good reputations, but it also cheats the person committing the judgment out of experiencing the good and others. Everyone of his fellow Israelites had judged Jeremiah as someone who was not a true prophet and someone who did not love his nation. When the day came that Jerusalem fell, they finally realized that the prophet was right all the time. But now it was too late to respond.
This introduces us to the second type of people that will put you in chains if you allow them: the negative people. These are the “Debbie Downer” folks. Negative people will take all the joy out of life and think that nothing good will ever happen. For them, there is no bright day, no ray of hope, and no rejoicing in the morning. For the negative folks, the weather is never right. Their job is always a problem. It’s like the story of the lady who always complained that it was cloudy outside. She never left her chair because it was always cloudy. Finally, someone came in and cleaned her window and she saw that the clouds were actually a result of a dirty window. Are you one of those negative people that may be suffering from a dirty window? Thank God that through Jesus Christ, we can be cleansed so that we will see life differently through the eyes of faith. Some thought that Jeremiah was negative, but he not only spoke about Israel’s pending judgment, but He also told them about God’s forgiveness and restoration. Jeremiah’s message was positive because it was his desire to see Israel turn back to God.
This brings us to the third type of people who will put you in chains if you allow them to. These are the Unforgiving People. Notice I said “unforgiving.” These are the folks who will not forgive themselves much less anyone else. Did you know that unforgiveness is a sin? That’s right. It is a state of pride that will exalt a sin or wrong act as greater than God’s Grace. Need I remind you that 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us that God’s Grace is sufficient for every need. His Grace is more than enough to cover sin. God’s Grace is more than enough to heal the hurts of the past. God’s Grace is stronger than the Devil’s thorns. God’s Grace is more than enough to bring us out of the bondage of the past and into the brightness of His Glory. Thank God, God’s Grace breaks every chain.
The fourth type of people that will try to put you in their chains are people bound to do things their way. Self-willed people are really rebellious people and will often hang around good people just to look legit. At one point, Jeremiah’s fellow Israelites asked him to pray for them that the Lord would lead them to make the right decision. Does that sound familiar? Some people will ask you to pray for them but they really have no desire to listen to you or God. They want prayer so they can be blessed to keep on doing what they want to do. After a time of prayer, Jeremiah returned the answer to the people, but they did not want to hear it. They even told the prophet, “You are speaking falsely, The Lord has not spoken to you.” (Jeremiah 43:2). To make matters worse, these misguided self-willed people, forced Jeremiah to go with them into Egypt. While they may have won the argument, they did not win in the long run. In Egypt, they all died and suffered the fate that God had pronounced against them.
This brings us to the fifth type of people that will lead you into bondage if you follow their practices. These are the fearful people. Fearful people are those who want to play it safe and never venture beyond what they are usually accustomed to. Spiritually, these are the one talent folk who hide their abilities, their skills, and even their dreams in order to live a threat free life. Fearful people have taken one bad day and blew it up to be a bad year and even a bad life. 2 Timothy 1:7 declares that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind. For that reason, Jeremiah was a one who lived off the chain long before the Babylonian commander loosed his shackles. The life of this prophet was one of faith in God’s Word. It was Jeremiah himself who found comfort in God’s Plan. Jeremiah 29:11, for I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not evil and to give you an expected end.
That really is the only solution for living a life that is free from the chain. You must know and understand that God has a plan for you. That plan starts right now but it extends into eternity. The Lord God Almighty cares so much about you and me that He sent His own Captain to set us free from the chains of life. If the Son of God shall therefore set you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36
So when Nebuzaradan came to release Jeremiah, he was already free and had been free all along. The prophet found his freedom by trusting God. The prophet found his true freedom by knowing that God’s Plan would never fail even when things looked their darkest. Our freedom in Christ does not call us to live recklessly. Our freedom in Christ is not a license to indulge in worldly pleasures. The freedom that Jesus Christ gives is one that brings joy and fulfillment of knowing that we are in the best place, at the best time, and will perform our best for God’s Glory. That is true freedom. That is living off the chain. In Christ, we are:
– Free to go wherever we choose because The Lord will guide us in the right direction for His Name Sake.
– Free to give because of Who Christ is and what He means in our life.
– Free to grow because of God’s Power living and abiding in our lives. We grow more in love with Jesus. We grow more into what God would have us to be. We grow in the Body of Christ to the full measure that Grace will allow.
That is Living off the Chain. In closing, Lillian Dickson put a different spin on a quote that originally came from the poet Carl Sandburg. Lillian Dickson used a coin to express a very powerful concept. Life is like a coin, you get to spend it anyway you choose, but always remember, you only have one – so spend it wisely.