The Price Of Freedom

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

I was recently reminded of a story told by preacher AJ Gordon, who one day met a young boy carrying a rusty cage with several birds fluttering nervously on the inside. Gordon asked the boy where he got the birds, and the boy replied that he trapped them in the field. "What are you going to do with them?" Gordon asked, and the boy replied, "I'm going to play with them, and then I’m going to feed them to an old cat we have at home."  

When Gordon offered to buy them, the boy exclaimed, "Sir, you don't want these. They're just little old wild birds and they can't sing very well. They are worthless, so I’m just going to feed them to my cat."  

Gordon replied, "Whatever you want for the cage and the birds I’ll pay the price." The boy agreed and told AJ Gordon that he was making a bad deal. After purchasing the birds, Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue sky.  

The next Sunday, when he got up to preach, he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate how our sins have been paid for by Jesus’ blood. "That boy told me those birds were worthless, but when I paid for them and released them, they were set free. They were redeemed.” You and I were held captive to sin, but when Christ shed his blood and paid the price for us, we were redeemed and set free.

May we not be quick to forget that we were bought at a price, the ultimate price, in fact. Jesus gave up everything so that we could have a relationship with Him and spend eternity with Him. Only because of Him can we experience true freedom, so let’s be diligent in thanking Him for that today and every day moving forward.