Broken shackles falling to the ground

"Sanctified" by MercyMe ("All That Is Within Me" album)

Let there be no condemnation
For all who are fully known in Christ
Unspeakable grace for all the nations
By way of holy sacrifice

We worship with the sound
Of broken shackles falling to the ground.

Sanctified
I have been set free
Grace divine
Has swept me off my feet

No greater love has ever bee known
Than He who came to find the lost
No greater sacrifice has been shown
Than He who laid upon the cross

Let all creation sing
For He has come and He's changed everything

Sanctified
I have been set free
Grace divine
Has swept me off my feet

And I know that I will never be the same...

I've been listeing to this song a lot lately & tend to turn up the volume and blast it when I listen to it =P I'm sure people have given me looks when I'm singing to it in the car & sometimes I don't hear people talking to me at work because I'm listening to it so loud while wearing earbuds hehe - I wonder if my neighbors hear it when I'm alone at the apartment? Hrm, okay I'll stop blasting it at the apartment so I don't bother people anymore haha.

"We worship with the sound of broken shackles falling to the ground"

What a crazy line huh? From my understanding, "broken shackles falling to the ground" is the depiction of freedom from evil, corruption, and sin that is given freely to those who believe in Jesus and His life, sacrifice on the cross, and resurrection. What an amazing and true analogy though - the sounds of those broken shackles falling to the ground turns into worship & praise to God, and how amazing for that person when those shackles do break and fall - "I have been set free."

What does that freedom look like to you, whether you believe in Jesus or not? For myself, I am definitely still in the process of letting those broken shackles fall to the ground (and will be for the rest of my life no doubt) - pride, selfishness, jealousy, lying, judgment & prejudice, ungrounded anger & frustration, gossiping... it's all still deeply rooted in my heart. But when I let the shackles slip off just a bit & let myself be free in faith & heart, those days are full of extraordinary joy & contentment. It can be the worst day circumstantially & yet there's still a smile on my face - that's freedom... trusting in the grace & mercy of God and that He controls & protects all things. Hopefully those days become more common, and yet are still extraordinary =D

*** Edit 10/22/08 - 10:25pm ***

On another note..... YAYYYY! WOOHOO! * fireworks * SO HAPPY & EXCITED! =DDD