For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. — Isaiah 52:3
I recently read the story about someone who chose to pay college tuition for an entire graduating class of students. When he was asked why he did it, he said it was because he had been blessed. He shared that many of the students had taken significant loans for school. So he decided that he would take from his abundance in order to help pay their debt.
Occasionally you come across a story like this one that is inspiring. I think of this story or the stories where someone sees a family struggling to pay for groceries and they pay for them. Or perhaps where someone buys the meal of a law enforcement officer. They are paying the debts on behalf of someone else.
In the writings of Isaiah, God was sharing through Isaiah that the Israelites were in bondage to the Babylonians. He said they were in bondage for “nought,” or that they became prisoners without a price being paid. He said that He would redeem them without money. While the story has a practical application to the history of Israel, it certainly reminds us of another debt that was paid on behalf of someone else.
In each of the instances I shared from our day, those debts were paid with money. In our world, everything revolves around money it seems, but there is a debt that cannot be paid with money. No amount of money could pay for my debt of sin, but my debts were paid with the blood of Jesus!
People around the world still find themselves in bondage to sin. Today, be thankful for the redeeming blood of Jesus. But don’t forget others around you may not know the freedom that you do. Look for an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus.