What holds us captive?

Luke 4.14-21

At our Wednesday night Bible study we wrestled with the question, "In what ways may we be captives?"

Looking at the big picture, we are confined to a broken world. As long as we live, we live with the consequences of this broken world. Sin can captivate us, with destructive consequences. Grief can hold us captive. We can be confined by financial problems or legal problems. We can find ourselves in relationships or work situations that are confining. We can be oppressed by the consequences of illness. We can be prisoners of loneliness or depression. I have heard people describe the sense of imprisonment that comes with alcohol or drug addiction. If we are not careful we can make ourselves captive to the enticements of wealth or status or power.

Whether we are held captive by the consequences of living in a broken world or by a prison of our own making, we are captives who need release. Each and every one of us needs to experience God's favor. We need God to act!

Thanks be to God for his action. In Jesus Christ we can know the liberty and release God has promised. In Jesus, God forgives all debts owed to Him. In Jesus, God sets us free from the dark powers of sin and self that bind us. In Jesus, God gives to you and I the inheritance of eternal life as God's children.