Max Lucado writes, ‘Having received God’s forgiveness, live forgiven! But you may need to silence some cockerels first! Booker T. Washington relates a helpful story of the day his mother did just that. Every morning of his young life, he, along with all the plantation slaves, was awakened by the crow of a cockerel. Long before daybreak the unwelcome noise would fill the sod shanties, reminding Washington and his fellow workers to crawl out of bed and leave for the cotton fields. The cockerel’s crow came to symbolise their dictated life of long days and backbreaking labour. But then came the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln pronounced freedom for slaves. The first morning afterward, young Booker was awakened by the cockerel again. Only this time his mother was chasing it around the barnyard with an axe. The Washington family fried and ate their alarm clock for lunch. Their first act of freedom was to silence the reminder of slavery.

Any cockerel’s stealing your sleep? You might need to sharpen the axe. The great news of the gospel is, yes, his grace is real, and so is our freedom.’

Source: Max Lucado, 2009, Fearless, Nashville Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, p.38-39