Redemption Policy

"Mom, what does 'redeem' mean?" asked Brock."Redeem?" repeated Mom. "It means to buy back. Why?"Brock pointed to a coupon in a paper. "This coupon for popsicles says it will be 'redeemed in accordance with company policy.' Does that mean somebody will buy the coupon back?"Mom nodded. "An ice cream company put that coupon in the paper to get people to buy their popsicles. After the coupon is used at the store, the ice cream company will redeem it--they'll buy it back by giving the store the amount of money the customer saved with the coupon."Brock's sister Madeline looked at the coupon. "I'd rather have ice cream bars," she said. "Do you think they'd let us use the coupon for that?""I don't think they'd allow that," Mom replied. "'Redeemed in accordance with company policy' means according to their redemption policy--their rules." She looked at the kids thoughtfully. "You know, the Bible talks about redemption too," she said."You mean people way back in Bible times used coupons?" asked Madeline.Brock grinned. "I don't think so! I'm sure they didn't have coupons back then."Mom laughed. "No, but when Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for us to be redeemed by God. Everyone has sinned and strayed away from God, but Jesus gave His life to buy us back.""So does that mean God has a redemption policy like this ice cream company does?" Brock asked, holding up the coupon. "Yes," Mom said. "And that means we have to be redeemed according to God's rules. God has a pretty simple redemption policy, but people often don't want to follow it. They want to make their own rules. Many people think they're not really so bad or that the good things they do will get them into heaven.""But that's not God's way of redeeming us, is it?" said Madeline."No," said Mom. "God's redemption policy requires that we confess our sin and our need for Him to redeem us. We must believe that Jesus really did die to save us. We need to trust in Him as our Redeemer--our Savior.""I've done that!" Brock said."Me too," said Madeline. She looked at her brother. "So we've both been redeemed!"– Lyndel F. Walker