In my capacity as a pastor I have had the opportunity to visit a few people who have served time in prison. Two of those men needed a ride home on the day of their release.

As we rode in the car neither of those guys called, “Wait! Stop the car! I want to go back to jail!”. In fact their conversation was filled with stories about the bad food, the cold nights and the difficulties and dangers they had faced.

In today’s verse Jesus is talking about getting us out of jail. He put up bail money and secured our release date. Then as the prison gates opened He personally met us at the curb. Jesus brought us to live with Him in His own home. He gave us a way to be washed clean then opened up His closet and gave us clean new clothes. A delicious meal was waiting for us at His table and a job opening was found for us in His kingdom. What in the world ever possesses us to wish for prison meals or our lives as inmates in the penitentiary of sin? Jesus is no slave master. He is the one who wrote the first emancipation proclamation and then signed it with His blood!