In 2023, when I actually wrote this 😭, my church was going through the New Testament in a year and at the time of writing we were in the book of Acts.
My favourite books in the bible are Joshua and Isaiah but I think I’m going to have to add Acts in there. It is so rich, so ground breaking and the move of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the people written about is enviable.
Something that really caught my eye this week was Acts 16. There was a continuous theme of freedom/liberation. This post is to share what stuck out to me on this matter. Sometimes, when I read the bible, I imagine back stories and ‘after’ stories for the people spoken about and this chapter was especially good for that (but I wont go into too much of that in this post).
First let’s meet Lydia. Paul saw a vision and concluded he needed to be in Macedonia. God knew Lydia was faithful in her worship of Him and her heart was primed and ready to receive Jesus. After hearing Paul, not only was she baptised but her whole family too! In a moment they were free from the power of sin and death.
Following our meeting with Lydia, we meet a slave girl who is also oppressed by a demon – captivity in the spirit and the flesh. While what she was saying was true, if it had continued, others may have thought that the way to Jesus could be found in the occult and people falling into bondage may have increased. Paul was annoyed by the spirit and having the good news of freedom in Christ, commanded the spirit to leave and it did. Just at the mention of Jesus’ name, freedom came. She most likely now had a new Master in Jesus because she was no longer useful to her owners, she possibly found a new community in the growing church.
Lastly, we meet the jailer. Ready to kill himself (because he would have been executed if the prisoners had escaped under his watch) thinking that Paul and Silas had absconded after the earthquake. Even though all the prisoners had been set free, they stayed. What a way to use your freedom right? But Paul and Silas saw a bigger picture, unlike Peter who had been commanded to flee in chapter 12, they had no such instruction so they stayed. They saw the lives of others as greater than their comfort and freedom. Imagine if they had seen this miracle as ‘God has made a way for us’ and ran away? The jailer would have died either through execution or suicide and he and his family would have been left without the beautiful gift of salvation. The love and compassion that Paul and Silas showed by staying behind made an impression on this one jailer, now imagine how many more lives were touched because he and his family became saved?
Ultimately, the three characters and their families highlight what the Christian life should be, attractive to those who meet us. Not because we add any garnishing, not because we in ourselves are extraordinary but because our deeds, our words and our lives make others want what we have with God. We are to use our freedom in Christ not as a weapon to be wielded and used to bash people over the head but as a smooth song drawing people in, making them wonder and ask who the composer is. Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives and release from darkness for prisoners Isaiah 61;1. We will meet opposition but we will also see Godly communities flourish.
In book of John chapter 6vs 68, Simon Peter said “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Freedom and life is found in Him and only Him.
Let there be light x