FREEDOM TO REACH YOUR FULL POTENTIAL

The Bible says this, John 11:43-44, “Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot [picture that] with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’” It says he was bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was covered with a cloth.
There’s significance there. That means that nothing that binds you up and keeps you from fullness of life, nothing that trips you up as you try to follow Jesus, nothing that covers you up and keeps you hidden from the rest of the world – none of that can withstand the life-giving power of Jesus Christ.
When you gave your life to Christ, the Bible says he brought you from death into life. It’s just like Lazarus – you were brought from death into life. But there are still things in your life that keep you from fulfillment in your life. Jesus said I came to give you fullness of life. But there are things that bind us up, that hold us back, that restrict us, that keep us from finding or reaching our full potential in life.
There are things that still trip us up as we try to follow Jesus – old ways of thinking, old behavior patterns, addictions, things that trip us up as we go along. There are still masks that we try to hide behind because we don’t want people to see the real me. Jesus says I want to set you free from all of this stuff. It’s not just enough that I’m bringing you from death into life, but I want to bring you into freedom. And he does it through his people.
Look at that text in John 11. Look toward the end, “Jesus said to them…” Who are the “them”? “Them” are the disciples, his followers. Jesus said to his followers, you loosen him and you let him go. Jesus does it through his people. That’s why small group life is so important. That’s why it’s so important for all of us to be in relationship with other followers of Christ.