“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Encountering knots is a normal part of life. Most of the time we do not hesitate to loosen knots. We loosen the knots on gift parcels when we receive them. Some knots are left unloosened. Builders tie knots around poles to keep structures from collapsing and these can be left intact. Farmers even use knots to tether goats in the field.

Sometimes a knot can bind a life as well. One Sabbath, while Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, He noticed a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all (Luke 13:10–11). When Jesus saw her, He recognized the knot that held her down.

He called her forward and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then He laid His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God (Luke 13:12–13).

For eighteen years she had come and gone in the synagogue, yet few truly saw her. Neither she nor the religious leaders fully understood that a spirit from Satan had bound her. But the day she encountered Jesus, that knot binding her down was undone.

We, too, can find ourselves held by a knot. There could be a knot around our finances, our health, our work or career. There could be knot of a strained or broken relationship.

But these knots can be loosened. Whatever binds you, bring that knot to Jesus—just as this woman did. He has the power to unloosen that knot and set you free!

Reflection: Is their a knot holding me down? Have I surrendered it to Jesus?

Prayer: Lord Almighty Father God of Abraham, Maker of heaven and earth, today I bring to You the knot in my life that is holding me down. By Your power, set me free so that I may walk in the victorious life You have prepared for me. I pray this in Jesus’ name.