Read Psalm 107:10-16 10Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, 11for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. 13Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 14He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. 15Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! 16For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.
The opening verses of Psalm 107 saw us a wanderers lost in too big a world without a home. This next stanza describes us as prisoners locked up behind iron bars, fettered in chains of bondage. Toiling. Grieving. Exhausted. Collapsed. Locked up. Constricted. Nowhere to go.
Which is it? Are we aimless wanderers or trapped prisoners? Yes. Apart from faith in our union with Christ, we become both at the same time. Truly it is our wandering from Christ that keeps us imprisoned. The more we search beyond the gospel of grace, the stronger the chains that bind us. Yet in Christ the opposite is true. The more we bind ourselves to him, the freer we become to explore the world around us without it imprisoning us in the dungeon of performancism or escapism.
To live is Christ is to experience this freedom of Christ’s bondage breaking love and grace. He came to set the captive free. Those held captive by the fear of dying and the fear of truly living.
Prayer. Jesus, break my chains. Swing wide open the prison doors. I want to be free. Chain my heart to yours so that I may find freedom in my union with you. Amen.
To Live is Christ 