We're All in Jail

I’ve never committed a crime or had reason to sit in a jail cell, but I imagine it would be a pretty desperate situation to find oneself in.  Can you imagine the tiny space, the cold stone floor, the drab gray bricks, the public potty with absolutely no privacy, the lack of daylight, and the complete boredom?  I think I’d go insane after a couple of hours, not to mention a couple of months, and certainly not a few years.

And then what if you were all alone?  No parents or rich uncle to come bail you out?  I cannot visualize a more miserable scenario.

Guess what.  That IS our condition!  We were locked in our sin with no way out.  Oh, we could be nice to the jailer, but that would never get rid of the awful things we’ve already done.

But there’s good news!  Someone HAS come to bail us out, and His Name is Jesus.  We were under a sentence of death, so God in His great love sent us His only Son to redeem us from our jail cells.  It’s His Birth we celebrate at this time of year—what an awesome gift—and it’s His Death on the cross that swings the cell door wide open!  Jesus paid a debt He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay. 

Is there any gift you could receive this Christmas better than the promise of eternal life?  I don’t know about you, but there’s no package sitting under my tree that surpasses living forever in heaven.  And the gift is yours.  All you have to do is take it.  Revelation 3:20 will tell you how!