Daniel Blankenship
copyright 2002
The note arrives with a demand to be met. “If you ever want to see your
son alive again,” it reports, “you must pay the ransom.” How will you ever come up with such a large amount of money? Somehow you must find a way, your son’s life is at stake. You do everything within your power, and finally you come up with the ransom. Your son’s life is spared, and you are reunited.
What if it had turned out differently? What if the ransom was so high that you couldn’t pay it? What would happen then? The scene is too painful to think about. We find it hard to think about anyone being kidnapped by a stranger. We get sick to the stomach when we think about someone who would take a life just for payment or revenge.
The fact of the matter is that there are a lot of people who are held captive for a ransom. In fact, we are all held hostage at some time or another in life. We have been kidnapped by Satan. He has held us captive and has demanded payment that we just can’t pay.
However, we have a reason to celebrate, for one came to pay the ransom. His name is Jesus and he came into the world to be a ransom for us. He paid the price and crushed the head of the kidnapper. Doesn’t that excite you? The sad reality is that there are many who have decided not to allow Jesus to pay the ransom for them. They have tried to pay it themselves and as a result, Satan still has them captive. There are also many who do not realize that the ransom has been paid and they live their lives as though they are still in slavery and captivity to Satan. It’s our responsibility to tell them the good news, Jesus has paid the ransom. We didn’t deserve it, but we are his and he loves us and he paid the price so that we may live freely and no longer be afraid of Satan.
I pray that you are one who has allowed Jesus to pay the ransom for your life. If not, I plead with you to stop trying to break free from the slavery on your own. He is the only one who can pay it and he has already paid the price. Remember that you are free. You are no longer bound and held captive by Satan. As I close, I’ll let Jesus tell you in his own words, for they are far more powerful than anything I could ever write. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Have you allowed him to pay the ransom for you? I pray you have.