Bondage Remembered

The Old Testament is really a cool book. I like reading it straight through rather than hit or miss - bigger picture is at hand. Like I have mentioned, I'm reading it through with the Sojourn body and listening to their pastor preach through it in 2009.
Today's reading was found in Dt. 23-25. Good stuff. Mostly laws and regulations of worship, but then came little tid bits that Moses (through the Holy Spirit) put in there.
"but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there" - Dt 24.18 (as well as many other places in the OT).
I love this. God writes his Law, gives it to his chosen special treasure possession - and then tells them to obey it. Not because He is a hard driving, egomaniac God (although He is just and jealous), but He wants them to obey it out of a remembrance of grace that He has poured out on their lives by rescuing them from years of bondage.
Same goes for us 4000 years later.
God has freed us from the bondage of sin and law (Rom 5-8) and has given us love and redemption and freedom. He gave us His word to obey and follow - because of this grace.
I was saved at an early age. I am grateful to God alone because of that. But, I still continue to live in daily sin. I am grateful for the Spirit for sanctification. But, I also know that if I didn't have the Spirit I would daily live in bondage to: food, performance, pride, fear of man, materialism, showmanship, fear of rejection, perfectionism, and many other things.
When I choose to live in those sins - I am crippled. When I choose to live in the freedom of Christ under His grace in the shadow of the Cross - then I am freed from the bondage of sin.
I am so thankful to know freedom and not have to live in bondage anymore.