Club Feb

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:17-19 ESV). I recently read some old notes from Penelope Patsuris, a writer for Forbes Magazine, who wrote an article listing the top five prisons in the United States. The first few paragraphs of the article caught my eye: “Martha Stewart was convicted on Friday of all four charges against her, including perjury and obstruction of justice. She could be sentenced to five years in prison on each count according to the law, but that's unlikely. Still, she may very well have to do time. Shares of her eponymous company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia were halted briefly, then resumed trading. If the appeals process fails to work in her favor, we suggest she take a page from her pal Samuel Waksal's playbook. After his conviction, the former ImClone Systems chief executive requested to serve his seven-year sentence at federal prison camp Eglin in Florida. That joint was considered so cushy that the term ‘Club Fed’ was coined to describe it, and we recently ranked it as one of five best places to go to prison.” I thought it was very humorous that there would be a ranking of “the best prisons” at all! Then I began to think about how easy it is to become accustomed to situations we find ourselves and lower our expectations. Prison is prison regardless of how “cushy” the accommodations. I don’t want to go to any of them! Yet in our spiritual lives we may have settled for our own Club Fed. Jesus’ declaration in our reading this morning clearly points us to the reason for his coming. His finished work brings freedom to anyone who places their faith in him. There are many different prisons in life. There are those created by others, whether physical or emotional. Jesus has come to set us free from each of those. The first step toward freedom is trusting him with the direction and purpose of our lives. However, a second step is equally important. We must also trust him in the midst of the journey. So often I have seen the destruction that fear of the future brings into our lives. Not knowing about tomorrow is difficult. However, knowing the one who holds tomorrow makes it a lot easier to deal with! Be set free today. Trust in Him!