Feeling Locked Up?

I have visited enough people in prison to know that it is definitely a place I do not want to be. The clang/bang of the closing steel doors makes my skin crawl…and I am on the out side! The news is full of stories of people going into or getting out of prison. For me, just the threat of prison is enough to curb any fleeting reckless impulse. Yes, I have considered slapping some sense into some people….of course in the most spirit filled way…and I may even be convinced in my own mind that it would do them some good, but I doubt a judge (or for that matter THE GUDGE) would agree with me, so I restrain myself. I really don’t want to spend even an hour in any prison for any reason. What brought this to mind was a comment I read from Jacob Boheme. He observed that in life, people build their own prisons. What we freely choose with our will holds us captive. If my life is filled with the things of the material world I am imprisoned in a way by them. They have to be insured, cleaned, cared for etc. Of course a certain amount of that is necessary in this world but when it gets to the point that the material things of life have over taken the soul, the real spirit and breath of eternal life, I am in a prison of my own making. Jesus said not to get to caught up in the things of this world…it will all burn in the end anyway. The real Joy’s of life is NOT in things, it is in relationships, especially the relationship we can have the eternal God, the reason we were created in the first place. I want to be free in every sense in this world, don’t you?