THE LORD’S PRISONER

By Odon Bulamba (summary only - 17th Nove, 00)

Philemon verse 1. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer,

Today, we are going to talk about “Paul, prisoner of Jesus Christ” and we will replace ‘Paul’ by my name, or your name. Each one of us must ask themselves: “Am I a prisoner of Christ or not?”


1. WHO IS A PRISONER?

In the world, a prisoner is a normal person like you and me, they can be educated or not educated, of any race, with or without disability, and who is arrested and put in jail. There are reasons why this person is jailed. Often, a judgment comes first and after they are given their sentence, they are sent to jail for a specific period of time.

2. LIFE IN PRISON

Life in prison is really tough. It’s nothing like prisons here in NZ: they are good places to be where you can relax. If you tell me that I am a prisoner here in NZ I will be happy; I will have a bed, a TV, and I can even study. But if you want to know what a prison is ask Asians, a South Americans, people from some countries in Africa or Europe.

When someone is arrested, the very first thing they do is to remove their clothes and put on a uniform. Whether you like it or not, you must wear that, and in Africa for example they make sure there are lice in them. Prisoners are not allowed to kill them; they will bite your body everywhere. This is just the beginning, a little taste of what is to come. These uniforms are filthy and you might spew up just looking at them. But prisoners have no choice, they must wear them.

Sometimes, people with long hair are shaved with a piece of glass, it’s not a blade or scissors, and you will feel how sore it is. If you wear a beard, they will pull it and you will feel how painful it is.

Afterwards you will enter a house where the conditions of life are extremely bad, depending of your file. Some prisoners have committed a small offence, but others are serious offenders, like murderers, and they will be taken to a place without light, toilet, food, get 10 lashes each morning and each night and do hard labours.

I remember once, the toilets were blocked in a prison somewhere, and this prisoner was asked to unblock them, without any tools. He was told: “You have hands to help you.” He started his work, and although he was absolutely disgusted, he had no choice just because he was a prisoner. After finishing, they brought him eggs for dinner: these eggs hadn’t hatched after the hen sat on them because they were rotten. The smell of these eggs added to the repulsive smell of his job and a filthy body made it impossible to eat. But he was forced to eat them anyway.

Also, you know that a prison is a locked place, so prisoners can get out. You are not allowed to move around, or to buy or sell as you please.

In Kenya, where we were, in a semi-desert area, they would give prisoners 500 ml of water to bath, once a month. But because the sun was so heavy, people would lose weight at high speed and some would die due to very hard work and the appalling conditions of life.

Why do I say that? Because some people forget that a prison is a place of suffering. If you were a general in the army, you would be stripped of your honour once jail, and someone of less rank might do it to humiliate you.

3. PRISON OF GOD

For us, Christians, God has prepared a prison. God said He gave us freedom so that we will be free forever. We are free not to sin, and when we have this freedom from sin we enter the Lord’s prison. In that place, every morning at 4:00am He will knock at your door and tell you:
- Wake up! Prisoner! Time to exercise. Time to work hard.
And if the prisoner falls asleep, be sure you will be whipped, no matter your body’s condition, sick or healthy, you must do it. Things are starting to get hard. When someone is saved and starts a new life, God tries to change this person’s life and teach them how He is the Master, the Lord.
In God’s prison, if God says not to steal, you MUST not steal. You must know your limits and if God says so, I don’t have the right to touch what is there, I must not do it. And if I do it, I will be in trouble with God.

In a country somewhere, prisoners pay their rent. If you are arrested today and your sentence is 5 years, every month you will pay $20 for example. How much does that add up after 5 years? And if you don’t pay, you will be added further time for that.
I’ve thought about the meaning of it with God’s prison. When God puts you in His jail, you MUST not sin anymore, if you do, you will be punished one way or another and you will pay dearly.

SUMMARY
-We are prisoners of God
-We must follow God's rules and obey Him
-We must not sin anymore

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