Unbound: Freedom in a Digital WorldSample

“Remember my chains,” says Paul in the concluding thoughts of this masterful letter. Even more impactful is that it appears he wrote that phrase with his own hands. The previous sentence reads, “I, Paul, write this greeting by my own hand.” It was standard practice in the Greco-Roman world to have an amanuensis. This was a type of personal secretary that would write down what the author wanted to say in their letter. At the end of the letter, it was common for the author of the letter to confirm that it was from him or her by writing in their own handwriting just a few words. You can imagine Paul pulling at the chains that bind him as he writes in his own hand, “Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”

Grace is needed against bondage.

Without grace, we would never have the strength or freedom to confront our bondage. Why would we? Admitting bondage without grace leaves us with no hope. Yet, in Christ, we receive the grace that allows us to recognize our bondage and gives us freedom from it. As Paul says in Romans 6:15, “God’s grace has set us free.”

I want this conversation of bondage and grace to conclude this devotional. Whether young or old, male or female, retired or working, most of us recognize that in some way or another, we are bound by our digital technology. It, in some sense, keeps us imprisoned. We long for this authentic life with Christ that is available and ready for us. We long for rich and deep relationships with one another and for abundant joy. Yet, we remain chained at the palm to the version of life we have now. It’s not a bad life, but it sure doesn’t seem like the abundant life that Jesus talks about. Or the kind of life Paul prays about in another of his prison letters, Ephesians,

“For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that, out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

It’s with the same grace that he has always offered that Jesus finds us in this place today, longing for his life yet fighting our chains. He will offer us this same grace a hundred times over in our lives as the Spirit grows and matures us. It is his grace that will help release us from our bondage many times over.

In finishing this study, we might be able to take a moment to reflect on all of our practices over the last few weeks. What practice did you find helpful? Have you enjoyed other people more without the distractions of digital technology? How has recognizing your device as inhuman reminded you of your humanity? What have you noticed about how your identity is being passively formed?

I’ll leave us with this final practice: Choose one practice from this study to carry on. What one practice would you like to intentionally form into a habit that continues throughout your life?

May the closing words of Paul’s prayer from his chains that we started from Ephesians above conclude our study:
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”