Freedom

Freedom

Bible: Philemon 1:4-16

I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains (V.10).

I remember once going on a tour of a famous prison on an island called Alcatraz. As our tour boat pulled into the dock, I could see why this now closed maximum-security prison was known as “The Rock”.

Later, inside the prison itself, I stared at shafts of light coming through heavily barred windows. Then I saw row after row of cage-like cells that housed well-known inmates such as Al Capone and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz”.

But something else I saw made a deeper impression. Stepping into an empty cell, I saw the name “Jesus” scrawled on a wall. In another, a Bible lay on a shelf. Together they quietly reminded me of the greatest of all freedoms.

Paul knew such freedom while he was in prison, waiting to be executed. He only thought of himself as a “prisoner of Christ” (PHILEM. 1:1). He knew he belonged to Jesus, not the prison walls. Even if he never escaped, he knew Jesus would bring him into heaven forever after he died. So he used his time in prison to help the other prisoners understand the freedom God’s family enjoys (V.10).

Barred windows and doors are just one type of prison. Injuries, family problems and struggling to fit in are just a few examples of other types of ‘prison’ we might feel trapped in. If you feel cut off or trapped today, true freedom is found in letting Jesus in to join you.

TO BELONG TO JESUS IS TO BE FREE FOREVER —NO MATTER HOW TRAPPED WE MIGHT BE TODAY.