The Toy Boat....

A little boy and his father spent one day working on a special project together. They decided to build a toy boat that they could float in the stream that ran through their property. All day they worked to fashion a hull and masts, complete with sails and rigging. They painted it, gave it a name, and for good measure they attached a string that they could hold in order to keep it from slipping downstream. Finally, it was ready, and father and son walked down to the stream to have some fun.

All was well in those playful waters until the son accidentally let the string slip from his hand. Despite their best efforts, they were not able to snatch it from the stream before the swift current took it away. They boy cried, and the father comforted his sorrow. Some weeks went by and father and son happened into town. As they past by a general store, the boy cried out in amazement. There in the window display was his boat. Somehow, the store owner had discovered this beautiful toy boat and, not finding an owner, claimed it as his own to sell in his shop.

The little boy and his father walked in to the store excitedly and asked to have the boat back, but the new owner remained firm on his claim of ownership. "If you want to have the boat, you will have to pay the price," he said. The son looked up to ask his father, only to see him already retrieving his wallet to pay for the vessel. Boy and boat were soon reunited and the joyful duo left the store.

In Ephesians 1:7, the Bible tells us that we have "redemption (in Christ Jesus), through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace…". When the Bible uses the word redemption, it carries a meaning similar to the little parable above. Though we were lost in our sins, and under the dominion of the kingdom of darkness, God chose to redeem us. That means that He purchased us back from the dominion of sin, to be children in the kingdom of His light and holiness. When God looked at the price tag of our redemption, it was no less than the cost of His very life. And yet, "God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

In Christ, you and I have the opportunity and the power to walk away from all of those things in the kingdom of darkness that would enslave and destroy us, to walk in the strength and power that He gives us to be overcomers. In Christ, we have the unique privilege to be adopted into God's family: "…but to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…" (John 1:12). In Christ, we are REDEEMED!