(Carcere Mamertino: Roman prison where the Apostle Paul was held prior to execution, though not the prison mentioned, below.)
We all live in a prison of some sort at some time. Not necessarily a room with iron bars, but a room in our minds and souls with invisible bars that prevent us from breaking free to a life of meaning, peace, and abundance. Ironically, we are the ones who incarcerate ourselves. We imprison ourselves by living a life apart from God, a life of personal independence that, ultimately, results in a type of slavery that is as constricting as being bound by chains.
If we were to look at ourselves as God sees us, we would ask, “Why can’t we see that we are free?†We don’t see because we don’t look, or we look with eyes clouded by our own sense of frailty, weakness, and self-doubt. The freedom that we truly seek, the freedom that God desires for us, is found when we seek Him. Jeremiah said it boldly and clearly: “you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart†(Jeremiah 29:13).
In Acts 16, Paul and fellow traveler Silas were imprisoned after Paul freed a female slave from a spirit by which she predicted the future. Unfortunately for Paul, the woman was used by her owners to make great sums of money by telling fortunes. The slave owners, furious at their loss of revenue, caused Paul to be stripped, beaten with rods, severely flogged, and thrown into prison where his feet were fasted in stocks. We read:
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.†The jailer, at risk for losing his life if the prisoners escaped, asked Paul, “what must I do to be saved?†Paul answered, “ “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.â€
Paul was in the type of jail that we so often find ourselves—one where there appears to be no escape. We are put there because the life we live is fraught with unfairness, brutality, evil., and bad choices But Paul did not allow his spirit to be bound, and neither must we, for his hope was in Christ. It was this belief and trust that loosened his chains and broke open the prison doors.
This is more than just a nice story. It is a story of freedom. Believing in the Lord Jesus is our jailbreak. In the life we live, the physical prison doors may not always be thrown open but the door to our heart, where we are free to serve God, is opened. What are we waiting for?
Photo: bibleplaces.com
