Acts
16:16-34
Key
Verse: “Her
masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul
and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace.
(Acts 16:19 NLT)
When
we sing “my chains fell off,” from How Great Thou Art, we are
referencing this story. When we think of prisoners being set free, we
think of all the times when followers of Christ were in prison and
were literally set free. But the true prisoners in this passage are
not Paul and Silas. First there is the slave girl who was set free.
She was a slave to her masters, a slave to the spirit inside her and
a slave to the task of giving fortunes day and day out. She was
released from her bondage to the latter two, making her useless to
the former. But she is not the only one set free, the jailer is set
free as well. Because of the miracles occurring all around him, he
seeks to know how to be saved. He is also set free from bondage to
sin. Being set free comes in many shapes and forms. Whatever it is
that is enslaving us, Jesus is about setting us free, so we can be
free to worship him and live in relationship with him, so that we are
free to be the people he is calling us to be.
Prayer:
There
are so many things that entrap and enslave in this world. I can see
so many people around me who need to be set free. Lord, help me to
see those around me who need me to help free them, as Paul and Silas
worked to free the people in this passage. Also, Lord, help me to see
the ways in which I am enslaved by the demons of this world. Help me
to turn to you so that I too might be saved, that I too might be set
free. Amen
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