Opening Prison Doors – A True Story of Grace

I was probably eight years old the first time I heard the story of Starr Daily.

Eight years old.

When Starr was eight years old, he stood in front of his class to recite an assignment. The sad little boy had no mother at home—she had died when he was born. And that day, when he stood in front of the class to recite, he forgot one of his lines. The children began to snicker and then, to laugh. And when Starr looked at his teacher for reassurance and affirmation, he was horrified to see that she, too, was laughing at him.

Crushed, devastated, betrayed, and filled with hatred toward the world, Starr left school and became one of the most notorious criminals of his time. A brilliant thief. A skilled safecracker.

Starr had two great fears: death and being closed into a small space. And when he was finally caught, he had to face both fears. The jailers shackled his wrists and hung him on a wall, beating and torturing him for fifteen days before they finally cut him down and left him on the floor of the cage to die.

As he lay bloody, starved, filled with hatred, and dying on the cold concrete floor, Jesus Christ walked into Starr’s room.

In the words of one biographer, “As Starr looked upon the apparition of Christ he became aware that never in his life had he ever seen such love as shone from those eyes. They drew the hate out of him just as poison is drawn out of an infected wound. He was in bliss, in ecstasy, in glory. He hoped that moment would never pass. When it did, something remained that he could never lose.”

That’s the grace of Christ that’s born out of His great love for us—that He walks into our prisons and sets us free! Barrabas. The thief on the cross. Saul on the road to Tarsus. Me from my pit of depression, despair, sin, self-hatred, self-rejection, self-flagellation, and idolatry. 

One of the great truths that I’ve clung to on my journey out of my own prison of sin is a favorite saying of my evangelist friend, John Hobbs:

There’s nothing you can do to make God love you one ounce more and there’s nothing you can do that could make God love you one ounce less. He just loves you.

And that’s grace. Not that I’ve earned it, but that He loves me anyway. He loved me enough to die for me and He loves me enough to set me free every day of my life that I’m willing to let Him.

If there’s one thing you carry away with you today, let it be this one truth that bears repeating:

There’s nothing you can do to make God love you one ounce more and there’s nothing you can do that could make God love you one ounce less. He just loves you.

Today’s post is a part of the One Word at a Time Blog Carnival at my friend Bridget’s place! For more GREAT posts on Grace, make your way over to her site. You won’t regret it!