Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 25:27-30, Jeremiah 52:31-34

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived. – 2 Kings 25:27-30

HE PUT ASIDE HIS PRISON CLOTHES.

After 37 years of being imprisoned, God gave Jehoiachin favor with the new king of Babylon. I love the symbolism of Jehoiachin taking off his prison clothes in order to sit at the king’s table. The weight of the chains was gone, and he was experiencing some level of freedom and luxury once again. But what if Jehoiachin had continued to wear his prison clothes while feasting at the king’s table? What if he continued to identify with his old life instead of embracing this new opportunity?

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. – Galatians 5:1

How often do we find freedom in an area of our life, only to turn around and find ourselves slaves to something else? How often do we remain cloaked in the identity of our past instead of allowing the identity of Christ to be reflected in us? We are no longer prisoners to our sinful nature; we are not obligated to sin.

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. – Romans 6:6-11

PUT ASIDE YOUR PRISON CLOTHES.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Father God, we thank you for the freedom that is available to us because you were willing to give your Son as a sacrifice for our sins. We are grateful for the opportunity today to cast off our prison clothes — to stop identifying with our sin and to no longer allow our shame to define who we are. We are a new creation in you, and so we come to your table as a child of God — redeemed, restored, renewed, and ready to be used by you today. Amen.