“Unit 108, y’all meet me at the jail,” the evening shift Lieutenant said over the radio. It was around 1987, and we were one of three cars on patrol that night. LT stopped for a break at the Sheriff’s Office downtown. Back then, the jail was upstairs in the same building. While sitting in the break room, LT heard an unusual sound coming from above.

When we met at the Jail, LT ushered us upstairs. He distinctly heard the sound of sawing coming from a jail cell. That is not something you want to hear from inmates. This was a time when jails were still made of metal bars. Sawing meant someone was trying to escape. It also meant someone smuggled a saw into the jail.

LT stood guard while we shook down the cells. It didn’t take long to find the hacksaw blade. There was no handle, just the blade. It took us a little longer to find where the inmate cut the bars. These bars were made of hardened steel. When we finally found the mark, the inmate had barely scratched it.

I almost felt sorry for the inmate. The poor guy thought he could free himself from captivity with a smuggled-in saw blade. He had no idea how impossible the task was. What he really needed was someone with a key to let him out and pardon his crime. He didn’t realize it, but effort alone would never free him

Jesus once told his followers to abide in His word. “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John ‭8‬:‭32‬) Some scoffed. They were not enslaved to anyone. “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.’” They were enslaved, they just didn’t know it. And, through religious effort alone, they would never be free.

Spiritual freedom begins with realizing I can’t free myself. No amount of human effort can cut through the bars. What I need is someone with a key to pardon my sin and set me free. But who can do that…?

“I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.” (Revelation 1:18)

“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” (John 8:36)