Captive

When I think of the word captive, I think of prisoner of war or a kidnapped victim. I don’t think positively of captivity or being held captive.  I have read horror stories of people in captivity. Being captive is not usually a positive experience. The Apostle Paul talks about being held captive by the Lord. He speaks in very positive terms. Check this out…

¹⁴ But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. ¹⁵ Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?

¹⁷ You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us. (2 Corinthians 2:14-17 NLT)

I’m a volunteer captive of the Lord God. I’ve surrendered to His Will for my life. This volunteer captivity is not like other captivity. I’m actually rewarded while in captivity. I have freedom inside this captivity. I have hope within this captivity and no hope when I’m outside His captivity. He uses me willingly while I’m in captivity. I realize that to others who don’t know the Lord, this seems like a “jacked-up mess”, but it’s really not. I surrendered my heart to Him many years ago and my heart is willingly in captivity to Him. I realize that this is quite the paradox, but He has changed my life when I became captive to Him. He is using me in ways I never dreamed of. He is speaking through me. He is giving me opportunity after opportunity to serve in His Kingdom. I’m so thankful. I’m experiencing real peace in this voluntary captivity to the Lord.

Pressing On!

Dwayne