Freedom!

If you’ve seen the movie Braveheart, you’ll never forget the scene where William Wallace, under threat of execution unless he acknowledges the king, summons everything within him to shout a single word—“FREEDOM!” Liberty is one of the greatest privileges in the world.

The apostle Paul used the freedom of his Roman citizenship to great advantage, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to people of many cultures in the great cities of his time. Then it all came crashing down. Religious leaders who hated Paul’s teaching started a riot and he was falsely accused. After appealing to Caesar, the highest authority, Paul found himself in a jail in Rome.

For most of us, prison is the worst-case scenario for our lives. The independence and choices we cherish would be gone. Liberty would give way to limitation. Our future would be destroyed.

But for Paul, prison was simply another location in which to serve Jesus. Instead of becoming depressed by what he had lost, Paul enthusiastically embraced this new opportunity.

During two years of imprisonment in Rome, Paul was allowed to live in his own rented house where many people came to see him. “Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 28:31). His letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon celebrate God’s goodness and the joy of knowing him.

If you’ve lost a cherished freedom, ask God to show you how this restriction can become an opportunity to know and serve him. Like Paul, you can discover that within any confinement your mind and spirit can be free to serve Jesus. –Dave McCasland