Give Them Liberty (Acts 16:16-32)

Paul and Silas were imprisoned for casting a daemon out of a young lady that was employed to be a physic and provide income for powerful men. They were falsely accused and beaten. Afterwards, they were cast into the depths of the local jail. While there we are told they prayed and sang praises to God. One thing I often overlooked was the important fact that the prisoners heard them. The scriptures reveal them being in a situation that would have made it easy to voice there innocence to all those in confinement and those employed to keep them.  Instead they used the opportunity to glorify God.

One way life presents us with the opportunity to assess how we have been wronged is by comparing our situations with others.  That comparison can sometimes lead us to desire that we be vindicated above all else. Paul and Silas showed their desire to keep the God of all creation front and center while they went through this ordeal. When the doors were opened they took the opportunity to minister, not escape the confinement. Their perspective was not the prison they were in, but the bondage of sin that held their audience in captivity. They cried out to the jailer when they could have allowed him to execute himself. They observed the right time to reach out in love to their perceived enemy. Falsely accused and imprisoned for serving God does not meet the expectation of modern day Christians. Neither does it fit the modern day model of prosperity and power we suggest to each other because of our faith. Paul and Silas were more concerned with the salvation of others than they were with the comfort of their own reputations and success. Being falsely accused and imprisoned did not distract them from the task of being a light in a dark place (Matt. 5:19). Will the cares of this world and the wickedness of men keep us from revealing the grace of God to a dying world? Give them the opportunity for liberty before they taste of death.