{"id":15033,"date":"2025-04-10T03:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T08:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jfbelievers.com\/?p=15033"},"modified":"2025-04-10T03:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T08:12:00","slug":"unable-to-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/unable-to-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"UNABLE TO LEAVE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Acts 12<\/strong> the Apostle Peter was arrested and kept in prison, but it wasn\u2019t the first time he\u2019d ever felt incarcerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in John 6<\/strong>, after \u201cmany of Christ\u2019s disciples<\/em>\u201d had absconded the ministry community (v.66<\/strong>), Jesus gave the same opportunity to Peter. Yet the old fisherman found himself unable to leave. \u201cWhere would I go?<\/em>\u201d he said, \u201cYou have the words of eternal life<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In essence, Peter was captive<\/em>; and Jesus Christ held the keys. No shackles, no chains; yet completely immobilized by God\u2019s will for his life. No matter how badly he might\u2019ve wanted to get away, Peter was going nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul, too, knew what it was like to be a prisoner. He\u2019d been following Jesus for decades as a free man when the Holy Spirit began showing him that the liberty he enjoyed was only temporary (Acts 20:23<\/strong>). Rather than fleeing as others might\u2019ve done, he, like Peter, stayed the course. He was completely immobilized by God\u2019s will for his life, which explains why Paul humbly embraced the shackles & chains that awaited him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staying put can be a real challenge for some people. Especially when God forces the issue. It’s one thing to do exactly what you’re told. It’s quite another to stay right where you are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLAVES VERSUS PRISONERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many of us are well acquainted with the concept of \u2018bond-slavery\u2019 in the Bible. It\u2019s the term \u201cdoulos<\/em>\u201d, often translated \u201cservant<\/em>\u201d or \u201cslave<\/em>\u201d. Being used over 125 times, it seems to be a favorite self-designation among New Testament writers. In the church it refers to someone who serves Jesus with a level of loyalty & obedience that parallels that of a traditional slave. When Paul uses the term, it implies his willingness<\/em> to subject himself to the Master. In other words, \u201cdoulos<\/em>\u201d is a servitude that\u2019s chosen <\/em>for oneself, not forced.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It’s one thing to do exactly what you’re told. It’s quite another to stay right where you are. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Unlike bond-slavery, however, imprisonment<\/em> happens against one\u2019s own will. A bondslave gets to choose whether they\u2019ll let themselves be owned, while imprisonment, almost always, is somebody else\u2019s choice. Whether they like it or not, they find themselves detained by someone with greater authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another striking difference is that slavery<\/em> is defined by a person doing<\/u><\/em> what they would rather not do<\/u><\/em>; while imprisonment<\/em> is when somebody stays<\/u><\/em> where they would rather not be<\/u><\/em>. From John the Baptist to John the Apostle, countless Christians have known what it was like to be stuck in a spot they didn\u2019t go looking for. Whether it was the saints we\u2019ve read about in Scripture, or the ones we\u2019ve never even heard of, many faithful believers have felt the cold chill of a dungeon they were forced into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAITH VERSUS FREEDOM<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some disciples of Christ make better slaves than prisoners. They\u2019ll do anything for Jesus so long as they retain the freedom to move about as they please. But once they feel the restraint upon their life, their good character starts to dissolve. Others, I suppose, are opposite: they make better prisoners<\/em> than slaves<\/em>. They\u2019ll gladly stay right where they are as long as nothing is expected of them. But as we\u2019ve seen in recent months in our journey together through the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul was exemplary on both accounts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all of God\u2019s servants will experience actual imprisonment in this life, but no one should assume that they\u2019re exempt from its effect. So, before you congratulate yourself for serving Jesus by choice, you might ask whether you\u2019ll still do it with a glad heart when, like Peter, you\u2019ve got nowhere else to go. You\u2019re willing to serve Jesus in the open air, but will you let Him put you behind bars?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It hardly matters in the end, whether you liken yourself to a \u2018slave\u2019 or to that of a \u2018prisoner\u2019. The important thing is whether you\u2019re ready to keep doing what you\u2019re told, right where you are, regardless of your situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I certainly hope so. The church could always use more faithful men (and women) whose love for Christ surpasses their love for freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Acts 12 the Apostle Peter was arrested and kept in prison, but it wasn\u2019t the first time he\u2019d ever felt incarcerated. Earlier in John 6, after \u201cmany of Christ\u2019s disciples\u201d had absconded the ministry community (v.66), Jesus gave the same opportunity to Peter. Yet the old fisherman found himself unable to leave. \u201cWhere would … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}