I can imagine the sorrow, bitterness and hatred the slaves must have felt towards the people that have captured them into the slave industry. In the House of Slaves the sadness and the gloom is still hanging over every room where the slaves were kept. There is a feeling of remorse and a feeling of souls that are desperately fighting for freedom, but the fighting only led to punishment. There was no freedom for them. In some areas of the house the feeling is so strong that you can almost see slaves desperately trying to grab for what they believe might be their last chance of freedom.
They were kept in very small rooms. Families were divided: men, women, young women and children all in seperate rooms. The rooms are just four walls, a door and a barred window. Their last hours on Senegalese soil were spent in simplicity and agony for the thought of what is lying ahead.
There is one door. It is called the door of no return. Once the slaves have boarded the ships that will lead them to their destinies of agony and enslavement, there is no return. They will never see their country or their family and friends ever again. This is a door that leads to a lifetime of punishment, agony, sadness, hatred and a desire to freedom. In my mind it seemed like the door to hell. A door that will lead you into a lifetime of captivity and agony. A life from where there is no escape and no return.
What must be running through your mind if you have been captured into the slave industry? To what extent will you hate and curse the people that sold you into a life of unending misery? A life of no freedom, filled with unfair punishment and no hope for the future? What will your reaction be if the whip is brought down hard on you, and you are innocent? Will you be able to love the person? Can you forgive that person and love him regardlessly of what he is doing?
The whole book of 1 John is about loving our brothers and obeying God. When God commands you to forgive everyone who sins against you, you have to obey and forgive them with all your heart. Even if they are the people who are punishing you into a lifetime of agony. God says that you have to forgive others so that you can be forgiven. He also says that we have to bless and love our enemies. Regardless. Take a moment to explore your heart. Can you honestly say that you will forgive? Not only forgive, but love and bless your enemies? If we don't forgive we enslave ourselves to a very difficult and painful life on earth.
Jesus Christ suffered and was crucified for our sins and through his crucifixion he closed the door of no return. He closed it and no door that God closes anyone can open again. He opened a new door and any door that God opens no one can shut. He opened a door to eternal life. Eternal life with him. We just have to enter through that door.