I received this first paragraph about Booker T Washington from a friend today. Thanks Larry Tate!
“There is…no condemnation.” Ro 8:1 NKJV
Booker T. Washington tells a wonderful story about his mother. Every morning of his young life, he, along with all the plantation slaves, was awakened by the crow of a rooster. Long before daybreak the unwelcome noise would fill the shanties, reminding Washington and his fellow workers to crawl out of bed and leave for the cotton fields. That rooster’s crow came to symbolize a life of long days and backbreaking labor. But then came the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln pronounced freedom for all slaves. The first morning afterward, young Booker was awakened by the rooster again. Only this time his mother was chasing it around the barnyard with an axe. That day the Washington family fried and ate their alarm clock for lunch. Their first act of freedom was to silence the reminder of their slavery. Are any roosters stealing your sleep? You might need to sharpen the blade. The great news of the gospel is, yes, His grace is real, and so is your freedom! “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
However, the only way to kill your particular rooster is to know (experientially know) the power of the ressurection through the Holy Spirit of God. When we wont bring a particular area under the blood and we carry that thing with us trying to serve the Lord, Jesus will often do something that seems contradictory to us. He will let that thing come to the forefront of our thinking until we are sick of it. The Israelites were not satisfied with the benefits of God’s provision (manna) and they wanted meat. Their request had nothing to do with killing off the reminder of their chains, instead it had everything to do with feeding their flesh which deceived them concerning their bondage. So they ate their fill until they were sick of it.
Are you sick of hearing your rooster crow? Then die to yourself Peter and let the Lord silence that squawking lie with the truth of who you are in Christ. Ask God to fill that place of brokenness with His purpose and see what He does.
What a great post! If you don’t mind I will use some of it of course giving you credit.
Absolutely, thank you for your encouragement. God bless you as your encourage others to love the Lord.