Free
Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist, issued a challenge in every city where his travels took him. He would allow himself to be locked in any jail cell and yet promise that he could set himself free quickly and easily. In every instance, he made good on his promise until he met a challenge that would not yield to his talents.
In a small town in rural Ohio, Houdini allowed the heavy, metal doors of the jail to be clanged shut behind him. This was a familiar senario and he took comfort from the metallic sound and the accompanying isolation as his jailors left the area. In private, he quickly took a concealed piece of strong and flexible metal and began to work, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For 30 minutes he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed and still he had not opened the door. By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation.
Finally, after laboring for 2 hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock. But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all! In his mind, he had bought into the false assumption that the door was locked and that illusion was all it took to keep him from opening the door and walking out of the jail cell.
That story reminds me that many people are overwhelmed by the thought that their sinful past has doomed them to a life sentence of separation from God. The Devil keeps them locked in a cell of regret, guilt and self-loathing or he convinces them that they can escape by their own efforts.
What they need to realize is that God has already dealt with our sin problem throught the sacrificial and atoning death of Jesus. Jesus has opened the door - He is the door - and our self efforts are worse than useless. They could actually hinder us from realizing that the door is open. What we need to do is throw ourselves on the mercy of God.
Psalm 51 (NKJV)
1 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight
That You may be found just when You speak,[a]
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart
These, O God, You will not despise.
