Philippians 1:13 - An all-encompassing prepositional proposition

"...so that my bonds in Christ came to be manifest in the whole praetorium and all the rest..." 

-First of all, Paul affirms as must we that it is all about Christ.  He has talked about being slaves of Christ, us being holy ones in Christ, the day of Christ (twice!), the affection of Christ, bearing fruit through Christ, and now his bonds IN Christ. Everything is all about Christ.  Everything is IN Christ.  For those who follow Christ, who are IN Him, everything can and should receive that all-encompassing prepositional phrase.  IN Christ.  My marriage in Christ.  My job/career in Christ.  My hobbies in Christ.  My spending in Christ.  My freetime in Christ.  My driving in Christ.  If I am in Christ, if I am really crucified with Christ, if it really is no longer I who live but Christ Who lives in me (Gal 2.20), everything about me is in Christ, always.  The only question is whether or not I live all in to that reality.

-Furthermore, Paul understands that his bonds, his chains, the reason he was in prison was not just because of Christ, because he happened to be a Christ-follower or even a leader within the Way, but he was in bonds FOR Christ.  The God in Whom he lived and moved and had his being had his back and his front and his future in His hands and was ultimately orchestrating his circumstances in order to give more people the chance to learn about Jesus.  In this case, Paul was being guarded by the elite Praetorium, the imperial palace guards of Caesar himself.  These were hand-picked, select men who received double pay and special privileges, and they had become the most powerful body in the state.  Paul was chained to different ones of these guards as they took turns relieving each other, but more accurately they were chained to him.  Being chained to Paul meant that they were going to learn about Jesus.  And eventually, according to Paul here, not only the entire Praetorium but everybody else in the palace had heard about Christ.

-Note to self: my circumstances (IN Christ!) are never an excuse for self-pity, nor for timidity.  They are a divine opportunity to help people learn about Jesus.  Always.