This line, from a Pat Green song, never fails to catch my attention:  “how a man in chains has the strength to sing.”  It is one of the mysteries of life.  I have often remembered the line and wondered exactly that: how does someone in chains manage to sing of freedom?  How does someone who is bound and trapped find the hope to see themselves free?

The answer came to me in church.  It was July the Fourth weekend, so the pastor was preaching on freedom.  But even before that, the topic came up in the children’s lesson.  (It probably says something about me that I learned this answer from the kid’s sermon.)  The woman spoke about how because of Jesus we are not only free as Americans but also are free as people.  That’s when I realized “how a man in chains has the strength to sing.”  He sings because despite the chains he knows he is free.

God sent Jesus to free us all and once we accept that gift, no worldly cage can hold us.  We are free from the inside.  Despite any outer circumstances, despite any earthly trial, we are deeply and fundamentally free.  Our freedom has been purchased and our release is certain.  And therein lies the strength to sing.