The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
March 15, 2009
In
This Issue:
Trapped
but not Bound
by
Greg Litmer
Trapped but not Bound
Several years ago I had the opportunity to go to a nursing home every Saturday morning with a group of Christians and sing, pray, and teach God's Word with a number of the residents. One week, we were studying Acts 16 and our particular focus was upon Paul and Silas being imprisoned in Philippi. I read vss. 22-25, "And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them."
As we examined the passage and the situation in which Paul and Silas found themselves, I made the point that their actions served to illustrate that, as children of God, we can have joy no matter our circumstances.
Looking at the crowd that had gathered to study with us, I noticed one older woman. She was bent over, obviously unable to straighten her body. She could barely lift her head. Yet when I mentioned that circumstances do not control true joy of a Christian, she smiled and nodded her head as best as she could.
As I looked at her, I could not help but compare her with Paul and Silas. Here was an older woman, trapped in a wheelchair by a body that would no longer function as it used to. I thought of her childhood and imagined the way she used to run and play as the wind blew through her hair. I thought of her as a young woman, beautiful and so full of promise. Perhaps she was married and raised children. But now, her time was drawing near and her body would not permit her to engage in the physical things she used to do. She was trapped but not bound.
Nursing homes are paradoxical. I have spent much time in them over the years and have witnessed some of the saddest scenes I could ever imagine. At the same time, I have learned wonderful lessons about what it means to have our citizenship in heaven and our souls anchored there. So many older brothers and sisters in Christ, trapped in bodies that just would not function properly, have held my hand, smiled, and helped me to understand just exactly what Paul meant when he wrote, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).
Whatever happens to our bodies -- accident, sickness, or just the accumulative effects of age -- may entrap us physically but the spirit of the faithful Christian cannot be bound.
-- Greg Litmer
--- Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 6, June, 2008