Freedom isn’t chains being broken, but actually chains that bind us. To Jesus. Do you know Paul’s story, how this apostle first came to faith in Jesus?
Paul—who had gone by the name of Saul—was a violent persecutor of Christians. Even a murderer. He hated Jesus and his followers.
Then Jesus knocked him off his horse, made him blind, and like a prisoner Paul was led by others and kept in a house when he would have rather been out living his idea of the good life.
Jesus had taken him captive, and soon enough sent a prophet to heal Paul of his blindness so he could see—in new ways, with new faith. From that point on, Paul never saw himself as being his own man, but rather he believed he was captive to Christ for an even better purpose.
Whether behind bars or not, in chains or not, Paul refers to himself multiple times in his letters as “the prisoner of Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:1).
Jesus rescued Paul from his wicked, worldly ways. Jesus showed mercy on this murderer and made him into a missionary. Jesus grabbed onto Paul to be his Savior and would not let him go. Jesus had a higher and holy purpose for Paul. And Paul never got tired of that noble cause.
Do the following words of Paul sound like a victim or a victor? From prison, knowing he was facing execution for being a Christ follower and gospel proclaimer, Paul wrote, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:7,8).
This Jesus who rescued Paul and gave him a new and noble purpose, is he still alive today? YES!
Does Jesus show the same personal interest in you, having mercy on your sins and moving you past them into something bigger and more holy? YES!
Will Jesus allow you suffering and hardship as servants, not masters, to help you proclaim the gospel? YES!
You are chained to the Lord’s promises. just like Paul. You are a victor, not a victim, and a prisoner for the Lord. Look what God gives to you. No fear. Instead, you are chained to the Lord’s “power, love and self-discipline.”
I have friends and see plenty of strangers with tattoos of broken chains, representing some kind of freedom for them. I’m glad for that! My preference is a tattoo of an unbroken chain. For me, that’s true freedom—not independence from things, but total dependence on Jesus.
I am the Lord’s prisoner.
PRAYER: Jesus, replace my fear with your divine power, love and self-discipline. Chain me in your grace to be your prisoner, always bound to you, secured and under your mindful guarding. I am a prisoner of the Lord, and I’m glad! Amen.
BIBLE STUDY: In how many of his epistles in the Bible does Paul use the phrase “prisoner” in reference to being bound to Jesus by grace through faith?