Umm . . . What?

I was at Bible study the other night and we were discussing some verses in 1 Peter. One of the verses brought a great analogy to mind, and as I thought about the analogy, a story started to take shape. This story's going to sound a little odd, but hey---at least it's original!

A pair of criminals who were both down on their luck were trying to think of a crime they could commit (criminals do that kind of stuff) to bring in some extra money. They decided that a bank heist would be too risky, and they didn't think a liquor store robbery would be worth the payoff. Since neither of them had the technological know-how, they decided that defrauding ATMs was out of the question too.

After a few hours of tossing around ideas, one of the criminals came up with a brilliant scheme. "Hey---let's find some rich guy, kidnap one of his kids, and collect the ransom money! If we do it right, there's not much risk, and since we get to set the ransom demand, we can get as much money as we want!" The other criminal thought this over for a while, decided that his partner's logic was impeccable (criminals aren't known for being smart), and agreed.

The two men started making plans and decided that they would kidnap the son of the president of the local bank. The next day, they snatched the boy as he was walking home from school. The kidnappers tied the boy up and forced him to record a video that detailed their demands. The criminals wanted $1 million in ransom money, and if the money wasn't paid, they would kill the boy.

Fearing for his son's life and afraid that involving the police would complicate matters, the bank president did as he was told. He collected the $1 million, put it in a briefcase, and delivered it to the criminals. "Here's the ransom money you asked for," the bank president said. "Now please, give me back my son!"

Since the kidnappers were honest crooks, they held up their end of the bargain. Once they got the ransom money, they told the boy he was free to go. "Your dad paid the ransom, so you can leave. Sorry we had to tie you up, but, well . . . business is business, you know?" One of kidnappers said.

"You know, it's not really a big deal," the boy replied. "As a matter of fact, I don't think I want to go home." Surprised, his father tried reasoning with his son. "Look, son. These men kidnapped you! They tied you up! They threatened to kill you! And you don't want to be free?!" The boy thought this over for a while and replied, "Yup. These guys actually seem like pretty nice people. I'm sure they meant well, and I'd rather stay with them."

"Umm . . . kid, maybe you don't get it," one of the criminals said. "Your dad paid the ransom. We got the $1 million, and that's all we wanted. You're free to go now. We don't have any reason to keep you prisoner anymore, so you might as well go home." In spite of the criminal's logic and his father's pleading, though, the boy decided that he didn't want to go home; he wanted to stay with the kidnappers.

The kidnappers kept the ransom money, of course---they weren't THAT honest---and since the boy wanted to stay with them, they kept the boy as well. The father went home devastated. Even though he had paid the ransom and had done everything the criminals had asked, he still didn't have his son back. He couldn't believe how ungrateful his son had been.

*     *     *     *     *

If you've ever watched a cop show on TV---and even if you haven't---I'm sure you've probably noticed a couple of things that are wrong with my story. Things like:

• Criminals aren't usually that nice. Honest crooks . . . isn't that an oxymoron?
• The bank president should have (and probably would have) called the police.
• The kid would never be that stupid. If his dad paid his ransom, he would've gone back home for sure.

I warned you the story was going to be kind of odd, didn't I? And it was. I'll come right out and admit it. It certainly isn't the average, run-of-the-mill kidnapping story that you'd see on the evening news---that's for sure. It's so illogical, twisted, and backwards that it's almost comical. Something like this would never happen in real life, right?

Wrong. As strange as it sounds, stories like the one I just told are very common.

If you're not totally confused and baffled yet, you should be. I told an unbelievable story, and I admitted that it was so odd, it would never happen in real life. And then, after pointing out all the logical flaws in my story, I said that the story was true and that stories like it happen all the time. Huh?!?

Let me share the verse that inspired this story. I think that'll start to clear things up.

"For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God."

1 Peter 1:18-19 (NLT)

When a person is kidnapped, they're under the control of the criminals that kidnapped them. They aren't allowed to leave until someone pays the ransom. When the ransom is paid, though, the kidnapped person is free to go; they're no longer under the control of the kidnappers.

Before we were saved, we were slaves of sin (John 8:34) and enemies of God (Colossians 1:21), doomed to live an empty, meaningless life like the one mentioned in 1 Peter. Like the boy in the story, we had been "kidnapped" by sin and had no choice but to submit to it. Before we were saved, we were under the control of sin.

The ransom demand that sin had set was high. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death; in order for the ransom to be paid, someone had to die. Thankfully, Jesus was able to pay the ransom with His death and resurrection. Jesus' blood covered our sin and freed us from the control of sin. Because of Jesus, we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to God.(Romans 6:6-11)

We have trouble understanding why the kidnapped boy in the story chose not to go home after his ransom was paid, but we seem to have no problem doing the exact same thing ourselves. We know that Jesus paid our ransom and freed us from the control of sin, yet we choose to continue living in our sin; we act just like the boy in the story.

It's not difficult to understand how the bank president felt when his son refused to go home with him. He paid $1 million to get his son back, but his son didn't care---he was ungrateful. Imagine how God feels when we continue living in our sin---when we are ungrateful. To pay our ransom, God had to sacrifice a lot more than a few dollars---He had to sacrifice His only Son. That definitely puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

I'd like to end with another passage out of Romans 6. I think it really does a good job of summing up what I've been trying to say, and God's words are always more meaningful than mine. Check it out:

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

Romans 6:12-14 (ESV)

Jesus died so that you could be free from sin. How will you use your freedom? Who are you going to live for?