Grace

My home state of Louisiana has more people locked up in prison per capita than any of the other fifty states—and twice as many as the next runner-up for that dubious honor. When you make the decision to break the law, sometimes that decision lands you in prison. We call that paying one’s debt to society. Once you’re in prison, your choices are taken away from you. You’re told what to do, where to sleep, when to eat, when to shower, and what to wear. Ironically, such a choice puts you in a situation where you lose all of your other choices. Who wants to live like that? Why would anyone choose to wear jumpsuits and clean up the trash on the side of the road instead of leading a productive, free, joyful life?

Yet every day we are tempted to make choices that can land us in a prison of sin. The prison of the soul can be just as real and just as punishing as sitting in a cell behind bars. And since the temptation to sin instead of obeying God’s law is a daily battle, we can easily become repeat offenders, growing so used to our imprisonment that we mistake it for freedom. Paul says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1, 2).

Sin is one of Satan’s most powerful tools to keep us locked away in spiritual bondage. And he loves holding the sins of our past over our heads like a club to beat us into shame and despair, which are the opposite of freedom. The apostle Peter warns us about becoming “slaves of corruption” who are “brought into bondage” (2 Peter 2:19).

But here’s the great news: Paul writes, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4, 5). I love those first two words, “But God.” When we’re in the prison of sin—past, present, or future—there’s no way out but for what God did on our behalf. We don’t get released based on good behavior or time served; rather, we are freed because a loving God holds the key to our release.

In other words, you and I don’t have to live bound by the chains of sin and shame. As John writes, “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). We all get to make the choice of whether we’ll live in the prison of sin or receive the freedom that comes from salvation through grace.

I’ve made my choice. What’s yours?

Taken from The Duck Commander Faith and Family Bible