A good friend, a Christian brother, was recently released from prison after having served a five-year term.  Like David, he was “caught in a sin” (Gal. 6:1), and like David, the Lord sent a messenger to bring him to repentance.  Further details are unnecessary, but for an introduction to this series, I want to refer to our meeting recently, the first time I saw him since his incarceration.  One of the questions on my mind was how difficult was the transition for him back into normal life.

The examples he gave were interesting.  He said that one of the most startling aspects was seeing color, moving from a drab world of different shades of black, white, and gray, to a multi-colored and brilliant world.  Let us come back to this example later and make an application.

He mentioned that one of the great difficulties he had in making the transition was the realization that he was truly free.  Intellectually he understood it, but not emotionally.  He cited an instance when he was being escorted home, and he was allowed to go into a store and buy some food.  That is where he encountered the color.  But he also was given change when he paid his bill.  When he heard the change rattling in his pocket, he was seized with fear because the sound reminded him of the keys in the jailer’s pocket.

He cited another example of going out of the house by himself.  Suddenly, he was again seized with panic, for he realized that he didn’t have a cell phone, no way of notifying the guards where he was, and thus the fear that he was doing something terribly wrong for which he would get in trouble.  When he met with his parole officer, he told him of this sense of panic, and he said the officer looked him straight in the eyes and said, “You’re free!  You need to understand that you’re free!”

Instantly I had in my mind Jesus’ words in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  I mentioned the analogy to my friend who said it was certainly parallel and gave me permission to use it.  In the next few weeks we plan to explore the wonderful subject of Christian freedom.