Daily Devotions
September 24th, 2012 by Pastor SolleyEph 3:1-6 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Paul was a prisoner. (Verse 1) But for what cause and by whom was he made a prisoner? That Paul was a prisoner is made clear in the books that the Holy Spirit used the Apostle to write. Over and over again he refers to himself as a prisoner. But it was not to Rome, or the Jewish authorities. They did jail Paul, put him prison and in chains, and ultimately take his life. But Paul was not a prisoner to them, Paul was a prisoner to Jesus Christ and the cause of the gospel. I want to look for a few mornings at what a prisoner is and then make a spiritual application. This morning consider the fact that a prisoner is not free. He or she cannot go where they want to go, do what they want to do, they are not free to do anything on their own. The same should be true of the believer in Christ. When we receive Jesus Christ as our personal savior He then takes ownership of our lives, He paid a price for us, and we are no longer our own, we become a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Have you ever given much thought to that? When you were saved you turned over ownership of your life to Jesus Christ. You are now His, bought and paid for by His blood, you are no longer your own. That means you are a prisoner. No longer are you free to do what you want, to go where you want to go. All that we do in this life after salvation is to be directed by the Spirit of God. Think of that the next time you want to go somewhere, do something, that you know would not please the Lord. You are a prisoner, you are not your own.