"Baggage Handler"

"Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none." (Psalms 69:20) Before I can relate to what being free feels like, I must be made free myself. I get that; and I believe that most "Born Again" believers get that too. But just how do you express freedom to those that do not know what it feels like to be made free? It's really hard to show anyone what real freedom feels like, if they do not understand what freedom really is; mostly because you cannot really know what freedom feels like, without actually being set free yourself. I can remember trying to explain what it was like to have all of my sins removed, and how I related it to heavy bags that I have carried around all of my life, that have suddenly been taken away; it is as if I was made a thousand times lighter, and can actually feel as though I can breath easier; almost as if I went from walking uphill all of my life, to now walking downhill with ease and comfort. Other than that, I really don't know how else to illustrate what it feels like; but I would still receive a curious look, as though what I said still did not make any sense whatsoever. It is pretty obvious that we cannot fully comprehend what being set free from sins is like, not until we have been made free ourselves. But that does not mean there are not people and organizations out there that will try to offer a substitute freedom; which is really no substitute at all, but merely a way to stow your baggage or ship it off to another location temporarily. But it is never really gone until it has been removed by the blood of Jesus! Never, ever! It can be displaced, replaced, or placed in the closet; but it will never not be yours any longer until it is taken away by the Lord. Paul uses a slave illustration to help show what it means to be made free, yet he also shows how our flesh tries to remind us that we are also still slaves to the sin that we have been set free from (Romans 6:15-7:25). It's not just a matter of us being made free, but it is also the matter of believing that we have been made free, and then living free...
"I have discovered this principle of life - that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin." (Romans 7:21-25) NLT