Rightly or wrongly, hundreds of prisoners have been released from jail early having completed just part of their sentence. Jesus identified with the Messianic prophecy that he had come to ‘preach the good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, release the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (Luke 4:18-19). Although God has the power to physically release people from their prison cells, as He did with Peter (Acts 12:6-10), this prophecy means more than just a physical setting free.
Jesus has come that we might have freedom from anything that stops us living life to the full. Addictions, relationships, mental distress, fear – nothing is beyond His power. We may believe we are living with a life sentence – maybe because of something we did in the past, or some flaw in our character, or an illness. We need to come before our Creator and Carer and tell Him all about how we are feeling and ask for forgiveness and His help. He is waiting, like a jailer with the keys, just waiting for the moment we ask for release. Why wouldn’t You ask and take advantage of His offer?
I don’t hear of any prisoners saying ‘no thank you, please don’t release me early, I choose to stay here’ when freedom is on offer. It’s an amazing feeling when you say yes to God and have that inner freedom and know that life is no longer a death sentence since even death itself has been conquered.