Simple But True

The bible tells us in Galatians 3:13 that “Christ redeemed us…”. What does it mean in today’s language to be redeemed? The word redeemed literally means to buy back.

I’ve heard the story of a young boy, who after spending many hours constructing a little boat, took it out on the lake to sail it. With a long string attached to the boat, the boy was having a great time as the boat floated and bobbed. Suddenly, the string tore. In an instant, he lost his prized possession and could only watch as the boat headed downstream where it eventually exited into the river. He thought it was gone forever.

Several years later, this lad entered a pawn shop in a town downstream from where he grew up. He spotted the boat that he had built years before. The young man approached the storekeeper and said, “This is my boat. My initials are carved on the bottom.”

The owner said, “Well, I’m sorry, but somebody brought that boat into my store and I bought it from him. You’ll need to pay me for it.” The young man immediately paid the shopkeeper all the money he had so he could buy back his cherished boat.

This is a picture of what God did for us. First of all, He made you and me. We each went our own way, but He redeemed us and bought us back. Jesus gave his life on the cross two thousand years ago to redeem, or buy us back, from the sin of breaking God’s laws. When we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and King, we experience the blessing of being redeemed.