From Prison To Freedom

by Vicki Campbell

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)

They say that when an elephant is captured in the wild, they tie its leg to a huge banyon tree in order to train it. Of course, the elephant will do everything within its power to free itself. However, in time, and after much effort, he finally realizes that when he pulls on that leg, he isn’t going anywhere. Once he has tamed down and become accustomed to his “prison,” the owner can then untie his leg and take him where he wants to go. Then, when he needs to confine him, all he has to do is tie his leg to a stake, and the elephant will stay put. 

The elephant has the strength and ability to easily pull up that stake and go wherever he wanted, but because of his conditioning, he believes that when he feels the tug of the rope around that leg, he is helpless to move and doesn’t even try to get free.

Then, I’m sure you’ve heard the story about the trained fleas. The fleas are captured and put into a jar with the lid tightened. Like the elephants, the fleas keep trying to jump out. Before long they figure out when they jump to the top, they will end up with a headache from banging their heads on the lid. The fleas soon learn their limitations and know just how high they can jump in their new home.

Once they’ve become accustomed to this, you can take the lid off of the jar. The fleas are now free to leave and go visit the nearest cat or dog, but they won’t. Even though they’ve gained their freedom, they still jump around in the jar just like the lid was still in place.

One of my favorite stories, though, comes from an old western comedy, Support Your Local Sheriff.  James Garner has been made sheriff in this rinky-dink town. When he goes into his office and jailhouse, he discovers that there are no bars on any of the cells. When he turns around with a perplexed expression, they quickly explain that they just haven’t come in yet. Without a word, the sheriff gets a bucket of red paint, and dipping his brush into it, proceeds to splatter red paint in a line where the bars should go.

It isn’t long before he must arrest and lock up a bandit, who thinks a breakout will be a cinch in his new home. However, the sheriff, nonchalantly, props his legs up on the desk and asks this prisoner if he sees the red line. He tells him it’s the result of what happened to the last guy who tried to break out . . . poor fellow! Of course, the prisoner believes this story to the point that when his buddies try to come to his rescue, he won’t leave.

It’s easy when you’re on the outside looking in at each of these—the elephant, the fleas, and the bandit—to see how ridiculous it seems for any of them to be confined to their make-believe prisons. It seems so obvious to us that they are free to go and do what they want. However, with the truth being distorted, they are deceived into believing that they must live in these self-made prisons.

Years ago, God gave Bill a dream where he saw row after row of jail cells. The prisoners in these cells weren’t criminals. No! They were Christians. Some needed to be freed from sickness and disease. Some needed to be freed from a spirit of poverty. Still, others needed to be freed from Satan’s bondages and traps that they had fallen into. God told Bill that through the power of His Spirit, he was to unlock these prison doors so that His children could be set free.

It is most exciting when we see sinners freed from their sins and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It is also exciting when we see Christians healed, set free, and delivered. Jesus desires for us to be free in Him.

Unfortunately, in our quest to unlock the prison doors and set them free, we see many Christians who continue to sit in their prison cells with the door wide open. They have the ability to walk out, but they don’t. For various reasons, Satan has deceived them into believing that they are still prisoners.

One example that comes to mind is the woman who came into a service on crutches. She was on disability and said she wanted healed. Bro. Bill prayed for her, and she was healed. She threw her crutches down and ran all over the church. Some time later, we asked someone about her, and I couldn’t believe what I was told.

The woman, fully healed, knew that she was no longer eligible for disability and became concerned how she would live, until she talked herself right back into her sickness. She believed the lies of the devil. Didn’t she realize that if Jesus set her free from her sickness, he would also make a way for her to earn a living? She chose to live in her self-made prison rather than accept the freedom Jesus had given her. Don’t be like her! Choose to live free in Jesus!

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  (John 8:32)

Vicki