My Own Prison

The band Creed released their debut album “My Own Prison” on June 18, 1997. It’s been certified as 6x platinum and is one of the top 200 selling albums of all time in the United States. Even though Creed is in no way a “Christian band” most of the members have Christian roots embedded into their younger personal lives and you can see these roots reveal themselves on the surface of their lyrics.

This past week in my personal study and devotion time I’ve been contemplating and comparing a few facts about Saul/Paul’s life and his terms in prison. Even though it’s hard to be specific about the totality of years in which Paul spent being imprisoned, biblically speaking it adds up to approximately seven years or so.

Now during one of his stints in prison we read of a scene in Acts 26.9-11 where Paul is standing before King Agrippa and giving a summary of his own life, before his own personal conversion and experience with Christ. And we should take note of the commonality in which Paul uses to connect with not only the king, but his captor and judge who has the power to set him free from his physical prison.

This is what Acts 26.9-11 records of Paul’s confession. He says,
9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”

Now before I get into just one of the trains of thought I’ve been riding this past week I would like for you to notice when you read Acts chapter 25 and 26 that first and foremost Paul does not plead for his own life but he pleads for the life of his captors. He doesn’t try to get himself set free with educated words but instead he tries to allow God’s Word to set King Agrippa and all who are listening free.
Verses 28 and 29 of Acts 26 says;
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"
29 Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

Now there's not enough room on this blog to post everything I’ve studied but here is just a slight hint of the fuel which ignited the vehicle of my week’s personal study. I found it amazing that Saul/Paul life’s role was utterly and totally reversed. Please notice he went from persecuting, imprisoning and killing Christ’s followers to being persecuted, imprisoned and eventually killed as a Christ follower.

And listen, Paul’s prison cells didn’t have a sink, a toilet, a bed, a weight set in the yard or cable TV. His cells were places of darkness, death and despair and yet he uses these dismal depressing places to write the Words of God and see those alongside of him find Christ. His life’s plea was never “Lord set me free from my chains or prison” but rather he used his chains and cells to see others set free from their peronal prisons.

So what can we take from this? Should we ask ourselves “Have we personally fashioned our own prisons from our jobs, our towns, living conditions, financial situations or our surroundings?” Or are our prisons actually just our selfish viewpoints of our own personal lives? Have we made ourselves comfortable in our own prisons by being content to be discontent? Do we set around holding ourselves captive by our life's conditions to the point of where we just can’t see the need around us for others to experience the freedom that can only be found through a relationship with Christ?

Now this isn't really even the tip of the iceberg as to what’s been going on in my mind and heart, it’s just a drop in the ocean. But I will leave you with this question for you to ask yourself, “Am I just surviving in My Own Prison or am I focusing my life on setting others free?”