Discover His heart: He put up security for our redemption
I have a friend who is a bail bondsman. Being the gentleman that he is, he has never gone into great detail about his work, but needless to say, it is not a typical nine to five job. When a defendant is in jail on criminal charges and desires to be released until trial, a hefty fee or bail is required as a deposit to ensure that the defendant will not skip town. When the defendant is unable to pay this deposit and family and friends refuse to do so, a bondsman is contacted to pay the bail and serve as a guarantor that the defendant will appear in court.
It’s a risky business and some defendants jump bail, leaving the bondsman holding the debt, and we can understand why he or she tracks down the defendant. After all, the bail has already been paid! Poor Job understood this practice and was looking for a bondsman to free him from his jail of affliction and suffering. Job was looking for his get out of jail free card.
@Job 17
“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?” (3, NIV) Job called on God to act as his guarantor, to pay what was necessary to free him from his miserable situation. Who else will put up security for me? We certainly know that it wouldn’t be his friends who had already tried and convicted him, case closed.
While God abundantly blessed Job over the next many years, Job’s cry for a bondsman, for the everlasting bondsman, was answered some 2000 years later when Someone paid Job’s bail, not with money but with His very blood, Job’s guarantor. “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time.” (Romans 3:25-26) Amazing!
This reminds me of the old song, “He paid a debt he did not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed someone, to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song ‘Amazing Grace.’ Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.” (G. McSpadden) These words sum up the freedom Jesus gave us at Calvary – we’re out on bail awaiting eternal judgment where the Judge will declare innocent all those who have received Jesus’ payment.
However, not everyone has honored Christ’s generous payment – there are so many bail jumpers. Just like the bondsman for the courts, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8) Some would say it was risky business sending His Son to die for us, and we can understand why God has sent us to round up those who are running from their day in court. Don’t they understand that the debt has been paid for them? “And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation…We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) My heart cries with Paul, “Come back to God.”
Moving Forward: I can never thank the Lord enough for taking a chance on me! I will, at the very least, help Him capture with His love all those who are running from Him.
Tomorrow @ Isaiah 45-50
Phyllis Benigas 