Who is Your Warden?

When Christ came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is being fitted together in Him and is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that He gave to me for you? The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah. This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power.
(Ephesians 2:17-3:7 Holman Christian Standard Bible® ©)

Some of the residents of the Moravian community Herrnhut, hosted by Count Zinzendorf, were so intent on taking good news about Jesus into all the earth that they sold themselves into slavery to gain access to areas of the earth where they had no way to go otherwise. Joseph had been in Pharaoh’s prison unjustly for many years after being sold against his will into slavery by his brothers. When they fearfully begged him to forgive them after they had met him in the position of Pharaoh himself, his answer included the phrase, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” David refused to destroy Saul on the occasions when he could have, because he knew that Saul could only have power over him if Yahweh allowed it.

These victorious and effective servants of God knew that they were prisoners of Yahweh, not of men. Their service to men was secondary to their being possessed by the Eternal God. When you become convinced that you are His prisoner, His servant, His much-loved tool forged in a flame of purification with the intent of changing the world, you will, in fact, change it.