![Two jean-clad legs, with one of them stepping on a chain.](/uploads/2/1/4/4/21449656/223466188.jpg)
Not jail, but imprisonment.
Sin’s imprisonment. It’s the devil’s way of keeping you from moving forward. Once a sinful attitude is developed, it’s hard to shake off. So when the sin is forgiven, you still feel imprisoned in sin. Like when you get cut, though you’ve already put a bandage on it you still feel that it hurts. It happens like that a lot, especially when you’ve been unstable in God.
“Where sin runs deep, God’s grace is more. Where grace is found, is where God is. And where You are, Lord we are free. Holiness is Christ in us.”
Where God’s grace is being manifested, there’s always a breakthrough. When you’ve been sinking deep in sin, though it seems you can’t be forgiven, repentance is the only answer. Before I became stabilized in Christ, I had some hard times in prison. I asked for forgiveness many times daily. Then, I realized that the steel bars of sin could be broken by God’s grace. That was when I got out of prison. I was freed. Although the devil tried to use my past sins as a handcuff, God’s grace shattered it.
Think about it: you’ve been in prison for years. After a while, you think that that’s where you belong. Here comes a stranger, who paid your bail. But now, you don’t want to leave prison. You want to stay because it’s become ‘fun’. So the stranger humbly walks away.
That’s how Jesus feels, when he was beaten brutally to death. It was for your sake, yet you still decided to take it for granted. John 3:16 says it: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Yet, you decide a cell is where you should be, forever.
But what you didn’t realize is that you’re in a cell of sin. A cell of sin that is teetering dangerously on top of a bucket of gasoline. It’s about to spill. Then the cell will burst into everlasting flames. While you’re melting and burning, you’ll wish you’ve broke the steel bars of the cell, and left.
You could have left with Jesus, the stranger who could’ve bailed you out.
Are you still imprisoned?