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Whose Prisoner Are We?

The story is told of a gospel preacher who was able to look at the bleakest of circumstances and always find something to be thankful for. One Sunday, while the weather was cold, wet, and stormy, one of the deacons whispered, “I’m certain the preacher won’t be able to thank God for anything on a day like this — it’s absolutely horrible outside!”

When it was time for him to speak, the preacher prayed, “We thank Thee, O God, that the weather is not always like this.”

The apostle Paul also saw the best in every situation. Consider his circumstances as he wrote to the church in Ephesus while he awaited trial before the Roman emperor Nero. Most people would have concluded that he was a prisoner of Rome. But Paul saw himself as a prisoner of Christ (Ephesians 3:1). He thought of his hardship as an opportunity to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.

Let’s allow Paul’s words to challenge us:

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).

As a prisoner of Christ, Paul saw himself as being given the privilege to serve God and present these spiritual riches to “every man” (Colossians 1:21-28).

The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Whose prisoner are we?“