When Prisoners Reject Freedom

Daily Devotional – Sunday, December 1, 2024
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV)

While conducting Bible study among prisoners, I asked them to imagine a situation whereby the government had decided to set every inmate free. The prison warders would open the doors and ask the detainees to leave. Then I asked, “Would any of you decide not to go home and remain in prison?”

Saved by Grace

You should have heard and seen the reactions! Most of the inmates laughed at the very thought of a released prisoner deciding to continue living in detention. After all, the greatest desire for people in jail is freedom and a return to their loved ones.

I now asked: “Why, then, is it that God offers freedom to human beings yet many reject it?” Is that not what our key text intimates? Salvation is God’s favor for undeserving human beings. It is a free ticket out of the slavery of sin and death.

When Prisoners Reject Freedom

Our role is to believe in Jesus and accept the gift of salvation and eternal life. Like the prisoners in our hypothetical example, we receive forgiveness and freedom out of the goodwill of God. It does not matter how evil we are. Walking out of our prisons of sin guarantees our freedom.

How will you respond to God’s offer of freedom? Will you kick away your shackles of impure thoughts, ungodly habits, addictions, filthy language, guilt, and shame, and walk in the newness of life? Don’t be like the prisoner who rejects freedom for any reason whatsoever.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of salvation by grace, which I don’t deserve. I accept your forgiveness and freedom from the prison of sin.