Concerted efforts were made to douse it even if a little bit, but it was all to no avail...the wailing continued... blaring on...night and day...it was a wailing for my blood for the sins I had committed...
...I was hunted down...captured...bound up with chains at the hands and feet and caged - only my blood could pay for my sins...I could see my death with my own eyes, and could do nothing about it!
...I was helpless...hopeless...scared to death (I was gonna die, anyway)...never been more afraid in my life...I was going to die...as only that would serve justice...my pleas and cries for mercy all fell on deaf ears...I was guilty as charged!
...I had indeed committed sin worthy of death...and justice had to be served...I had to be brought to book...and only my death would do.
My pleas for mercy were meant with, "you're wicked, selfish and evil! And you have no truth in you!" ...and those accusations were true.
How could I be pleading for mercy after committing sin worthy of death...? Justice had to be served...the consequence of my actions was simple...death...there was no escaping it!
...while I sobbed uncontrollably, crying profusely bound up with chains in my cage...with no hope/chance of escape, not even a shadow of an opportunity for escape...I suddenly noticed everyone's gaze focused in one direction - like how a camera focuses on an image to get a good view - some stranger was the focus, it seems and they all focused on him...
...this stranger, a man, asked them to "loose him and let him go", referring to me. They refused, of course. "He's not getting out of this", they answered. "He brought this upon himself", they continued, "justice is being served by this, he broke the law. He must die! Only his death would do!"
...I heard the exchange, and hope swelled within me. I thought maybe...just maybe...I could get out of this alive...
...I tried to twist and turn my bound up body in my cage to get a view of this strange man who was asking for my release. He didn't sound like anything I had known, he sounded very different from what I had ever heard...and I imagined he looked very different too...must be why everyone (that I could see from my cage, at least) was so focused on him...
...I shouted...at the top of my voice like I had never done before...with all I had left in me to this man. Not knowing who he was apart from that he intended to save me, I immediately said, shouting, "my saviour and my master! Please, save me! I need your help, I can't help myself! I am indeed guilty of all they say I did and even more, but please have mercy on me. Please, I need you to save me!"
...I shouted...loudly...repeatedly...continuously...to get this man's attention...then suddenly...surprisingly...
...my cage was opened...I was brought out...freed as the chains were taken off.
I stood bewildered...too stunned to comprehend what just happened...and utterly speechless.
Then my captors pointed behind me...in the direction of this man, yes this same man...and said, "he will take your place and die in your stead."
...I was stunned even further. I turned to see this man...no, scratch that, this saviour...this redeemer...this rescuer...this life giver...who has decided to take my place and die in my stead...freeing me from the damning consequences of my failing...
...then I ran...with tears flowing down my cheeks...with a heart full of gratitude...towards him...and into his warm embrace...
...he then dried my tears with his kiss...drowned my fears in his love...doused my worries with his warm embrace...
...I was now not only free from the chains that were fastened to my hands and feet...but also free from the chains fastened to my mind which made me fail and fall.
I was totally...completely...wholly free...I was, and am, free indeed! I am no longer a slave, but free - physically, psychologically and spiritually!
Image source: worshippianotutorials.com
This man, this saviour, this redeemer, this rescuer, this life giver is Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. He gave Himself up...for me...for you, dying in our place, as that was the consequence of my (and your) sin against God, the Father.
Only our death would serve justice, and Jesus took it upon Himself to die in our place - giving us life eternal, restoring relationship with the Father...and giving us access to a glorious inheritance and the Promise - His Holy Spirit.
***
Dear friend, have you given your life to Christ? Have you allowed Him dry your tears...drown your fears...and douse your worries? Have you accepted His proposal - His love proposal?
...today, He is like the man proposing marriage to you...will you accept Him into your life and surrender all to Him? He only wants a chance to love you...to love you like you've never known and experienced.
You think you've experienced love until you experience Jesus...you think you know love until you know Jesus.
...come have a taste of what life is like on this side of the divide - the Jesus side...where we live, move and have our being in Him.
***
PS: Please, do not try to live a kind of life you do not have in you, you'll struggle fruitlessly...what do I mean?
If you don't have Jesus in you, you can't live and be like Jesus...it is first the life we have, before the life we live...
Check...someone's at the door...no, not that door...your heart...He's waiting. Open up.
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