Ball and Chain

We’ve all seen old movies where a prisoner was on a work detail and wore a heavy iron ball, about the size of a basketball, attached to his ankle by a chain. The weight of the iron ball would hinder his movements and thus keep him under the control of the prison jailer. He couldn’t escape; he couldn’t do what he might wish to do if he were free, as long as the ball was attached by the chain to his leg. He was a slave to the iron ball. It controlled him. It owned him. There was nothing the prisoner could do to escape unless he could acquire the tools with which to break the chain.

How would you feel if you were wearing that ball and chain? Many people do wear it today – and they wear it by choice. They want to wear it. The jailer who owns the iron ball is the devil. The ball is sin. Romans 6:16 speaks of the person who is a slave to sin, and says that sin leads to death.

When you practice sin, you wear the ball.

But, there is one significant difference in this analogy. In the case of the convict, the jailer owns the ball and chain. In the case of the sinner, the devil owns the ball, but the sinner owns the chain. He decides to attach it to his ankle when he chooses a life of sin. He can put the chain on, or he can take the chain off.

Thanks to Jesus Christ, if that ball and chain is attached to your leg, you can do something about it. You can break the chain. You can loose the ball. You can be free. You can be forgiven. You can have hope, meaning, and purpose in your life.

With Satan’s ball and your chain, all is lost, all is hopeless. Wear the chain: you die.

The power of Christ can break the chain, if you will let him. Romans 1:16 says His power is the gospel. Romans 5:1 says Jesus is the Savior of the faithful. Hebrews 5:9 says Jesus is the Savior of the obedient.

Look at the gospel as God’s tool. Pick it up, and by faith and obedience use it to break the chain.

Imagine your life with the dead weight of sin. Now imagine your life with the freedom of forgiveness. You can go either way. Which do you want?

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6 NKJV).

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city (Revelation 22:14 NKJV).