Whose Prisoner are You?

John 8:31-37

What value do you put on your freedom?  In the United States we love freedom and people from all over the world are trying to come here because we are free to speak, to travel, to worship, to fail or to succeed.  We also are number one in many things, but did you know we are number one in the number of prisoners, 2,019,234.  Number two is China 1,549,000, and Russia with 845,967, India has 313,635, Brazil has 308,304, Thailand has 213,815, Ukraine has 198,386, South Africa has 181,944, Mexico has 172,888, and Iran has 163,526, and that is only the top ten.

It is reported that on a global basic there are 8,570,051 prisoners and yet many places like Cuba report no prisoners.  That number should trouble us that our society has that many law breakers, that many people who have given up their freedom because they chose to get their needs met outside of the laws of the land.  But Jesus tells us in John 8:34, “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”  We no longer use the word sin, it not in keeping with a progressive society, but we have renamed it with phrases like they messed up, or bad to the bone, or one of my favorite is by my friend Cory Munn, “that is just wrong.”

One of my teachers was Bill Gillham, and much of what I write has some of Bill hidden in them.  Bill had this to say about the word sin: “The power of sin is what its name implies, a power to entice you into sin. It dwells in you (Rom. 7:21), yet it is not you any more than a gold tooth that dwells in your mouth is you. Sin's goal is to deceive saints into living to get their needs (though good and godly) met by sinning rather than by using the Matthew 6:33 method; that is, "seeking Christ first."  If you are one of those who has removed sin from your vocabulary you may want to visit 2 Timothy 2:20-26, verse 26, is a wrap-up of the source of sin.  “And they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

Now the rest of the story, we do not have to be taken prisoner by sin, it is a choice, and Jesus tells us how to choose in John 8:31-32, “So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.  And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”   Amplified Bible 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/