Up until the middle 1950s, it was customary for prisoners to do things like repair buildings, build roads, or menial tasks like picking up roadside trash.  They were chained, so the work was even more difficult than it would normally be.  These chain gangs have vanished from our landscapes, because they were eventually phased out. Being chained was looked upon as cruel and unusual punishment.

In the early years of our country, slaves were part of society. It’s hard to imagine placing human beings in bondage – making them work under difficult situations – beating them – giving them just the bare necessities for sustenance.  It was a horrible time in history.

The Jews were also held in captivity for centuries.  They suffered through humiliation, being expected to do back breaking tasks, living like nomads with no place to call home. During Hitler’s reign, they were starved, carted on trains to unknown destinations like cattle, and sent to their death in ovens designed to burn several of them at a time.

We don’t like to look at this depravity of human behavior, but it is the result of sin – which has enslaved each and everyone of us.  It stings worse than the lash of a whip.  It causes us to suffocate, to become numb, to sink deeper and deeper into a pit that we can never climb out of.  Everyone has been born with original sin.  We can’t escape it and will never be free of it until we die.

To be released from the bondage of sin we must accept the fact that we’re sinners – to repent of our sin – and to believe in faith that God has provided a way out. God has given us the key to unlock those chains through His own dear Son, Jesus.  The victory over eternal death has been purchased by Him alone.