This past weekend, we took my oldest son and his cousin to the circus. I'm amazed at the death-defying stunts these performers do every single night. They make it look so easy. At one point seven motorcycles were riding and looping around in a little caged ball in perfect synchronization. Just the spinning itself would have made me dizzy and sick.

The part of this "greatest show on earth" that gave me the most to think about'other than the remorse I felt for spending 20 bucks on a little plastic sword'were the tigers and elephants. I'm in awe at these ginormous beasts. God created them to roam the wild jungles and plains and to strike fear in every other living creature they meet. Yet, the tamer, with a little whip and a commanding voice, could make these monstrous animals perform circus tricks to make the crowd laugh at how these huge brutes look so silly.

What made these fierce creatures do wacky stunts like stand on their hind legs and paw at the sky? Why didn't they just take off? Because they didn't know who they were. The tigers in this circus didn't know they were capable of stalking and killing a deer, a water buffalo, a wild boar, a python, or [gulp] a human. They were content with their lazy circus life of doing goofy tricks and eating meat that someone else killed.

Let me bring this back home to us. We get in the biggest mess when we don't know (or have forgotten) who we are. God created us to freely enter into a relationship with him. If we have done that, then He gives us the status of a saint. He gives us freedom. God put the intimate and powerful Holy Spirit within us, so that we could do the impossible: like loving our enemies, turning the other cheek, walking the extra mile, praying for those who persecute us, standing up to the evil one, keeping our promises, overcoming temptation, sharing with others in need, etc. In Christ, we are capable of all these seemingly impossible tasks.

Like the tigers and elephants, many of us have been duped. We have been tricked by the evil one. He constantly lobs thoughts our way (disguising them to sound like our own thoughts) to get us to reconsider who we are and what we are capable of. He tells us we're a loser, a rotten sinner. Or he tells us, "Oh just once won't hurt you." And once we're hooked he says, "You know you'll never have victory over that sin, so you might as well just give in to it." Like the tigers, he wants you enslaved, to travel around with him using you to make you and your Father look like a laughingstock.

Who are you listening to? The devil who wants you in captivity, other people who may even mean well, or the truth found in the Word of God which promises freedom: "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (Romans 8:32).

Grace and Peace,
Andy