Breaking Chains.

2 Tim. 2:8-10 (ESV)
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, [9] for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! [10] Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

The resurrection, part and parcel of the gospel, it can’t be preached without also preaching the crucifixion, neither should the crucifixion be preached without preaching the resurrection. Our hope is in Jesus Christ who broke the bonds of death, and therefore cannot be bound!
We may be bound. It often happens with chains not of Iron. How often are we bound by emotional chains, or chains of fear? How often do we fail in our own lives to verbally speak the gospel? Sometimes I think Christians may be a little too comfortable thinking their life preaches the gospel for them. I’m not sure how someone is supposed to hear that their sins are forgiven by a person abstaining from alcohol for instance. Though showing another the person the love of Christ, by how you relate to that person does go a long way in breaking down the emotional barriers and chains, of finally proclaiming that love in word, as you tell them about the cross of Christ.
But the word of God is not bound! The word of God has awesome power to spread despite us, and all our weaknesses. When it is heard it does not return to the Lord empty. It works through us in the most mysterious of ways. It grabs the elect, and they do obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory!