Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Psalms 33 -34; Acts 16:22 -40
Focused in God’s Freedom – Acts 16:22-34
22 The crowd joined in the attacks against Paul and Silas, so the authorities ordered that they be stripped of their clothes and beaten with a rod. 23 When Paul and Silas had been severely beaten, the authorities threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to secure them with great care. 24 When he received these instructions, he threw them into the innermost cell and secured their feet in stocks.
25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 All at once there was such a violent earthquake that it shook the prison’s foundations. The doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the open doors of the prison, he thought the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted loudly, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”
29 The jailer called for some lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He led them outside and asked, “Honorable masters, what must I do to be rescued?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your entire household.” 32 They spoke the Lord’s word to him and everyone else in his house. 33 Right then, in the middle of the night, the jailer welcomed them and washed their wounds. He and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his home and gave them a meal. He was overjoyed because he and everyone in his household had come to believe in God.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
If I was trapped in a prison cell, could I sing praises to the Lord, as Paul and Silas did?
How could they do so? They were beaten and humiliated by the authorities and thrown down into the prison cell. I remember a picture of the prison used at that time, and it was prison cell dug in the ground. The prisoners were literally thrown into the cell. The situation could be enough to doubt what they were doing. Remember how they wanted to go to Asia, and got blocked by a vision? Wouldn’t that be enough to second guess your journey?
However, Paul and Silas praise the Lord in that circumstance. Their eyes were focused on the freedom they enjoy and share, with their life as a ransom. Their body might be experiencing agony, but their spirit was evermore stronger. It draws a starch contrast between the prison guard, who was about to take his own life, crying out to Paul and Silus saying, “Honorable masters, what must I do to be rescued” (v.30)?
He was the one in freedom, and Paul and Silus were the ones in chains.
Isn’t that focus on freedom, in the eternal kingdom incredible?
Prayer
Lord, help us to see your freedom that overcomes all our situations. And help us to share you peace with others. In Your Name, we pray, Amen.
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