Whose prisoner?

This grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.  —  Ephesians 3:8

A story is told of Scottish minister Alexander Whyte, who was able to look at the bleakest situation and yet find something to be thankful for. On a dark Sunday morning when the weather was freezing, wet, and stormy, one of his deacons whispered, “I am sure the preacher won’t be able to thank God for anything on a day like this. It’s absolutely horrible outside!” The pastor began the service by praying, “We thank Thee, O God, that the weather is not always like this.”

The apostle Paul also saw the best in every situation. Consider his circumstances as he wrote to the church in Ephesus while he awaited trial before the Roman emperor Nero. Most people would have concluded that he was a prisoner of Rome. But Paul saw himself as a prisoner of Christ. He thought of his hardship as an opportunity to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.

These words of Paul should challenge us. “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). Paul, a prisoner of Christ, saw himself as being given the privilege to serve God and present the “riches of Christ” to many.

Whose prisoner are we? — Albert Lee

Afflictions may test me,

They cannot destroy;

One glimpse of Thy love

Turns them all into joy. — Willen

READ:  Ephesians 3:1-9

The trials that imprison you

need not limit God’s work in you.

The Bible in one year:

• Psalms 97-99

• Romans 16