Minute Meditations

We recently went to jail; in fact, we were in the felony section of the Los Angeles City Jail, and it was an eyeopener.

A sergeant in charge of the felony section invited us to come down and have a conducted tour. It was an interesting experience although one we would not care to repeat. In contrast to the jails of by-gone days this one was no doubt luxurious. It was clean, light and airy. Some walls were of thick glass instead of bars. The prisoners have all kinds of rights. There are pay telephones on rollers everywhere, so they can be rolled up to the cells and the prisoners can make phone calls through the bars.

The Los Angeles City Jail is a far cry from the kind of prisons Paul knew so well. He spoke of being in prison frequently, and we remember how he was thrown into the inner prison and chained to the wall, his back bleeding from the scourging he had received even though he was a Roman and uncondemned. At midnight, in that dark, damp prison, uncomfortable from the bleeding back and feet held fast in the stocks Paul and his companion, Silas, were singing hymns of praise to God. The prisoners we saw were not singing; they looked hard and bitter. Paul in his distress was mindful of the well being of his jailer and refused to escape when he had the opportunity, while many of the prisoners today would kill anyone who got in their way if they had the opportunity to escape.

Today the laws protect the criminal to such an extent that some of those we saw in jail had arrest records numbering in the hundreds, and yet each time they are released to roam the streets and commit their evil deeds all over again.

This world needs the righteous judge who will do right and who will execute judgment and justice in the earth. He will rule with a rod of iron, and all nations shall bow before him, and his enemies will lick the dust.

Capital punishment is discussed by the highest court in the land, as hundreds sit in death row cells while the debate continues as to what should be done to them. The day will soon be here when the slain of the Lord will be from one end of the earth to the other, for Jesus is coming in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not God, and they shall be punished with everlasting destruction.

The coming of Jesus is the best thing that can happen to this world, but there is a question we must each answer for ourselves: Is the coming of Jesus the best thing that can happen to us? The answer is yes if we believe in Jesus and are faithful, but the answer is no if we are engaged in the works of the flesh.

The day of vengeance is coming! Woe to them to whom it comes. Isaiah wrote that beautiful prophecy which Jesus read in the synagogue and applied to himself; yet he stopped reading Isaiah’s prophecy right in the middle of the verse. The first part has to do with being in jail for its says that Jesus is to ”preach good tidings unto the meek; he is to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” The passage in italics Jesus did not read for it has to do with his second coming and he will soon come to finish the verse.

When he comes, will he come to us to take vengeance or to comfort us? The way we are living now will decide the answer then.