Prison Without Bars

In Meknes, Morocco, you will find an unusual prison. It has no doors or bars, yet no one has ever escaped.

Built in the 18th century, the Kara Prison is underground. Its design makes it impossible to escape. The hallways are a labyrinth, snaking this way and that for miles until lost.

Built by a Portuguese prisoner as a condition of his release, it held as many as 40,000 prisoners.

While it is a physical prison, many live in their own inescapable self-constructed prison.

Paul understood it.

He wrote the Romans of the agony of a spiritual prison.

“Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” (Romans 7:20–21)

Sin is a prison from which you cannot escape on your own. It requires help. Only following and obeying Christ leads us through the maze of our own desires and lusts. The one who rejects it can never escape.

Don’t languish in your prison when there is a way out.