Binding

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;" (Isaiah 61:1). The verb bind is used twice in this verse. Christ binds up the broken hearted and also opens the prisons of those who are bound. I think sometimes we confuse these two opposite uses of binding. Sometimes we confuse the Commandments and promptings of the Spirit, which Christ uses to help bind up the wounds of our broken hearts in ways that heal and liberate us, with the flaxen cords and chains of iniquity that Satan uses to bind us into captivity and misery. Both are forms of binding, but they are very different. Both a cast and shackles can restrict our movement, but only one is designed with our well being in mind. Satan is perfectly happy with us mistaking the healing binding of the Commandments with the destructive binding of vice and addiction, but we have to examine the intention and the reason behind the binding. If we can think of the Commandments as being restrictive in the same way that a bandage on a wound is restrictive, then maybe we will be a little more at ease with being bound in the Lord's way, to the purpose of healing and greater freedom. And if we can recognize that the chains with which Satan would have us bound are designed only to worsen our pain and prevent us from healing properly, then maybe we will allow our Savior to open the doors of our prison and unlock our chains and take us up in His loving arms that He may bind up our wounds properly that we may find relief and healing and ultimately greater freedom than we could have imagined.