“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
-Isaiah 40:31
When A. J. Gordon was pastor of a church in Boston, he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, “Son, where did you get those birds?”
The boy replied, “I trapped them out in the field.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“I’m going to play with them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.”
Gordon replied, “I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds.”
“Okay, it’s a deal, but these birds are worthless!”
The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the sky.
The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ’s redemptive work. “That boy told me the birds were not songsters,” said Gordon, “but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, ‘Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!’”
Apart from Christ, we’re all held captive to sin with no hope of escape. But Jesus purchased us with His own blood and redeemed us from the punishment of captivity. Because of that, we can be set free in Him!
Prayer Challenge
Thank Jesus for His redemptive work in your life and for the freedom He’s purchased you on the
cross.
Questions for Thought
Before Christ, what did bondage to sin look like in your life?
How should life lived in freedom be different from life lived in the captivity of sin?