When she was in college, my daughter went on a trip to a part of the world that she brought home in her heart and brought into the hearts of our family. It was back when the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse. She was on a Christian music team on a tour to the Baltic states, formerly Soviet areas. They were actually pursuing some historic opportunities to present Christ in public settings. But what really impressed them was the local believers. And that impressed them even more than the meetings that they were able to hold. And they saw in those people a hope of freedom.

 

About two weeks after the team returned home, those hopes of freedom were channeled into a very powerful demonstration. Now, in the Baltic states, it’s 370 miles from the northern point to the southern point. That's from the northern border of Estonia by the Gulf of Finland to the southern border of Lithuania. Amazingly, one million people formed an unbroken line hand-in-hand from one end of that 370 miles to the other, and they passed one word from the first person in Estonia to that last person on the southern border of Lithuania. Each person turned to the next and simply said, "Freedom." Wow! Did you know you're in a line like that?

 

In the Word of God, in 2 Timothy 1:6, Paul says to Timothy, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord." And then Paul talks to him about the freedom chain. "And the things you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." Well, there's the chain.

 

Paul says, "God sent me to touch your life, Timothy, with the claims of Christ. Now I want you to pass that on to reliable men. They in turn will pass it on to others."

 

Thank the Lord that chain has made it across the centuries, and it links you and me. It's really a freedom chain. Because of what Christ has done, we can say to people, "You don't have to live as a slave to sin and selfishness. There's forgiveness that will release you from your guilt. There's love to release you from a lonely lifetime. There's a personal presence of God to release you from the darkness that's in you and all around you."

 

Over 2,000 years, one person has turned to another and said, "There's freedom in Jesus." And someone turned to you and said it. Now, who are you saying it to? There's a long, long line of people who did what it says in Timothy, "Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord." They got the message to you. Whether it gets to your family, your friends, to your coworkers, to your personal world? I think that depends on you.

 

Haven't you been quiet long enough, ashamed long enough? Let God lay on your heart at least one person He wants you to turn to. Ask Him to get them ready for your message and to change your silence to boldness. And then, join God's freedom chain.

 

Someone grabbed your hand. Now, you grab someone else's and proclaim "Freedom!" because of what Jesus did.

 

Check out more from Ron Hutchcraft @Hutchcraft.com