Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord. Tell them the Lord looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die.
Psalm 102: 18-20 NLT
Prisons come in many shapes and sizes. Not all are visible. Many live imprisoned by their feelings of shame arising from past behaviours, either their own or the actions of others directed at them.
Life opens before each of us as we mature from childhood, through adolescence into adulthood. We discover there are decisions we must take that lie beyond the instruction of parent and teacher. Some of those decisions are fruitful and enriching, others debilitating and destructive, even to the point of death.
So as I enter the autumn of my life, I consider, what is my legacy? Have I built a life that through the exercise of self-interest has secured my well-being together with those I’ve chosen to love, but at the obvious expense of others? Have I attempted to mitigate that damage by doing some “good” arising from my Christian faith? Is my Christianity more than a sop to easing my own troubled conscience? Big questions and ones not lost on a rising generation looking at those who have lived more of life. The criticism increases in both scale and intensity, that my generation has enriched itself economically, secured itself politically and denigrated the planet extensively out of self-interest.
The gospel promises us eternity, yet mortality built upon self-interest starves that eternal seed. It is only as my self interest is consumed within God’s best interest that I find the key to unlock every prison door. I can live free at last. Not knowing what tomorrow brings, I live in the now and reveal that confidence in God is sufficient for fullness of life.
QUESTION
Reread the third paragraph and consider the hard questions listed there.
PRAYER
Thank you, God, for creating me with free will. May I choose life, light, liberty and honesty today and each day.
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