To redeem or not to redeem
Growing up, my mother shopped at places that gave out S&H green stamps. She filled books with the stamps and later redeemed them for merchandise at the S&H store. To this day, she has bookcases she bought with stamps, but I can still taste the glue on the back of the stamps as we licked them and put them in those books.
During the same time, I bought stamps at school that were also put into books that when filled, could be redeemed for a U.S. Savings bond. It was considered a patriotic act to buy the stamps and support the government. They even had Stamp Day at school.
Through the years, I have also redeemed hundreds of dollarsworth of coupons at grocery stores. It was almost a necessity early in our married life when my wife and I needed to save every penny we could on purchases. Later, it became more of a personal challenge to save as much as I could on normal purchases using a combination of sale prices and coupon discounts. Now, my coupons are most-ly loaded onto my grocery account and used automatically at the checkout counter. Think of it, automatic redemption.
However, the Bible uses the term redemption in a vastly different way. To redeem something in biblical times meant paying for something or someone which had been sold. If someone owed money, they could sell part or all their land to pay the debt. Sometimes sadly, family members were sold to pay for debts owed. Someone who was a close relative, who had both the means and the desire to “redeem” the land or person could do so and set them free. The book of Ruth in the Bible is a wonderful story built around the con-cept of redemption and the love of a kinsman redeemer.
However, many people will sing and hear about redemption without really grasping the significance of the word. You see, placed into bondage by sin, we couldn’t free ourselves. We needed a kinsman redeemer who both could and would pay the price of redemption. Jesus became one of us, a kinsman. He was sinless so He had the ability to redeem. He loved us, so He had the willingness to suffer and die on a cross for us. However, redemption is available, but not automatic. We must be willing to believe and accept by faith His redemptive work. Be free and live free, be redeemed.
