What Kind of Joy

The room is cold and damp. I can hear tiny feet skittering across the floors.  Rats!  Why did it have to be rats?!
It seems like forever I have been in this prison of mine
Now I face a death sentence cast down upon me.  If only I could find an escape...
     There are two other men on the other side of the wall.  I can hear them talking and singing.  I lean over to the hole in the wall and listen.  I can hear two men talking with excitement and laughing talking about the last few weeks occurrence's.  I holler thru the wall a "hello" and they respond back with the same.   I ask them how they can be so joyful in this place.  They respond that they are here for crimes against the government, but the King that they serve knows they are here and has sent a Messenger to tell them He will take care of them.  They ask me why I am here, and I reply jokingly, "I shot the sheriff...but I did not shoot the deputy!"  I tell them I feel like I have been in this prison all my life.  Subject to the four walls of pain surrounding me everyday.
      They tell me with a joy in their voices that this is not their first time in a prison or being beaten but they are glad to suffer for their King.
What kind of joy is this, to count it a blessing to suffer?  When they should be crying, there is joy in their eyes.  What kind of joy gives these prisoners a song when they are staring death in the face?
They tell me it is the joy of a soul that is forgivin' and free...
My King has promised me this joy, it just seems sometimes I forget the tune and need to be reminded every now and then.  May my song be sung loud enough that others would ask me, "what kind of joy is this" you have?

Work VS Prison

Work vs. Prison
Just in case you ever get these two environments mixed up, this should make things a little bit clearer.

@ PRISON	@ WORK
You spend the majority of your time in a 10X10 cell	you spend the majority of your time in an 8X8 cubicle
You get three meals a day fully paid for	you get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it
You get time off for good behavior	you get more work for good behavior
The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you	you must often carry a security card and open all the doors for yourself
You can watch TV and play games	you could get fired for watching TV and playing games
You get your own toilet	you have to share the toilet with some people who pee on the seat
They allow your family and friends to visit	you aren't even supposed to speak to your family
All expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required	you get to pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners
You spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out	you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars
You must deal with sadistic wardens	they are called managers
You can talk about Jesus, and even participate in Bible Studies	you'd better not talk about Jesus or bring a Bible if you want to keep your job!
THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE!

Now get back to work.
You're not getting paid to read blogs!