Folsom Prison Blues

Ya just gotta wonder if there is anyone who has never heard, or heard of, Johnny Cash and his signature song..."Folsom Prison Blues".  Released in December of 1955 (hard to believe it is that old), it rode the rocket ship to the top of hits that year and from then on it was history.  The names Johnny Cash and "Folsom Prison Blues" became synonymous.

Prisons aren't nice places, even in the best of circumstances.  I can only begin to imagine how horribly bleak the lifestyle must be for one confined to prison.  I shudder to think of the fear that must constantly rest in an inmates heart as in his mind he ponders "the system" within the system, and his chances for survival in that "system".  I can't imagine any inmate considering prison nice, comfortable, warm and fuzzy, and fully safe. 

But you know, we all....as in ALL of us, live in a prison(s) of sorts.  I bet you never thought of that.

• aren't we at times, perhaps more than we would like, prisoners to the clock, to time?
• I know many are prisoners to the "monster of more", or I want it now
• some may be prisoners to a rancid relationship
• we can certainly be held prisoner by our past baggage
• most of us are probably held prisoner to a degree by our habits and sin to some degree

Perhaps the greatest prison people live in, is the fear of what other people think of them.  It is this prison that can really hold people back....

• from being what God intended them to be,
• from doing what is right instead of what is popular,
• from living to their fullest potential,
• from developing a deep and lasting relationship with Christ
• from being real, who they were truly created to be

Logic would say that if we work to make an escape from the greatest prison, that our time spent in those other prisons we find ourselves in will be less and less, and soon we will be free......never again to sing "The Folsom Prison Blues".