It was a strange image. I saw someone who thought they were walking their dog, but the dog was no longer on the leash. The leash was out in front of the person suspended in midair with its empty loop moving ahead of the dog’s owner. The person walking the dog assumed the dog was still present and leashed except the dog had long departed. 

The leashes of control, both emotional and spiritual, that some of you wore in a place of unhealthy submission, are no longer in control of your thinking and movement. You have stepped out of the confines of the leash, but your previous handlers still think you are in place obediently trotting out in front of them being led by the tugs of their control.

Your freedom came when you made the decision to be led only by the impulse of God’s Spirit, not by any pressured group agreement or by the requirement to come in line with anyone or anything that demands you follow the lead of people, not the Lord. You have been unleashed to see new spiritual realities. While it can be entertaining to watch someone move around with an empty leash, it is time for you to move on in your newfound freedom. The Lord has assignments for you that were not possible before you stepped out of the controlling restraint of the leash. This is a new day for you – a day of freedom.

“Those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities” (Romans 8:5).