Red Ink

You were ransomed from the futile ways of your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish. I Peter 1:18-19

Suppose my child is out playing in the back yard, a place that has always been safe, a neighborhood protected by Crime Watch. When my back is turned, my child is snatched. Hours of anguish pass. The police and FBI are called and they set up my home with every kind of technology available, assuming that the kidnapper will contact me. A day passes. There is a phone call with a demand for ransom. I expect to see a settlement of a dollar amount but instead there is a message that calls for the life of my other child in exchange for the life of my first. How willing would I be to hand over him? It would be excruciating to weigh the options.

After Adam and Eve sinned, God’s heart was broken. He looked upon His precious creation and saw them in the enemy’s clutches. They were in bondage. Their cries could be heard across the great span that separated them from His presence. Cries for love, for justice, for mercy, for a new day. The ransom required was the ‘giving of God’s only Son.’ No dollar amount would win their freedom. Only innocent blood. The miracle is, He gave what was most precious to Him in exchange for me! And I wasn’t even His child yet, only an enemy.

As I enjoy God’s tender mercies this morning, I am closing my eyes for a moment to remember at what great cost I have been bought and redeemed. When Jesus died, God looked upon Him as He bled and saw my face. Through the great pain of watching His Son suffer, He saw into the future and saw me come limping home. He was writing my future adoption papers with red ink. I was bought with a price I would never be willing to pay if the tables were turned.

Oh, how great a love You showed to me. Wake me up and don’t let me take it for granted. My salvation trembles in my spirit. Amen