Self Made Prisoner

A Japanese soldier by the name of Shoichi Yokoi lived in a cave on the island of Guam to which he fled in 1944 when the tides of war began to change. Fearing for his life, this man stayed hidden for twenty-eight years in the jungle cave, coming out only at night. During this long period of time, this self-imposed hermit lived on frogs, rats, snails, shrimp, nuts, and mangoes. He had carried a pair of trousers and a jacket from a burlap-like cloth made from tree bark.

Yokoi said that he knew the war was over because of leaflets that were scattered throughout the jungles of Guam. But he was afraid that if he came out of hiding, he would be executed.

Finally, two hunters came upon him and told him that he need not hide any longer. At last he was free, and with new clothes to wear and food to eat, he was taken by plane to his home.

2 Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, yet many Christians live as a prisoner of it. Even worse, many Christians live as Satan’s prisoner refusing to walk in the freedom that Christ has provided.