Aaron Shust - Love Made a Way - The Overflow DevoSample

You Redeem

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the boy who built a toy boat. He took it down to the lake to sail it after carefully sealing and painting his beloved creation. He celebrated as it sailed beautifully on the waters. He chased it along the shore, until the wind took it further than he could reach. It was lost. Devastated, he returned home empty-handed. Months later, walking past a second-hand store, he saw his precious boat on display in the window. Despite the boy’s explanation, the shop owner demanded payment. So the boy began earning money to purchase what was already his. He eventually bought back his boat. He redeemed it.

God created us. He loves us. But sin separated us from Him. We chose to sail away. But God began to execute the plan of salvation from the moment we went astray. He became one of us, and purchased us with His very life. He bought us back. As Paul says, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”

Not only has God redeemed our souls, saving us from sin and giving us the hope of glory, but He redeems our moments. Our situations. Our circumstances. Joseph was despised by his brothers and sold into slavery. He spent two years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. But God divinely orchestrated each, tragic event in order that He, through Joseph, could deliver Egypt and the young nation of Israel from famine. In one of the most powerful displays of forgiveness recorded in the Bible, Joseph, reuniting with his brothers, assures them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”

God restores us. He reclaims us. He rebuilds us. He redeems us.