“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me.” Job 19:25

In this Bible verse Job is calling on God as Redeemer so that he can be vindicated and relieved of the consequences of the judgment against him.  We know that centuries after this book was written Jesus would act as a Redeemer for all of us as he set us free from the consequences of our sin. This is how God revealed himself to us as our Redeemer.

So here is what I am thinking about today in regard to my redemption: the fact that we are redeemed should transform our hearts from a place of despair to a place of gratitude. And if we are grateful that God is our redeemer, then how should that make our lives different?

My oldest child is very responsible. She routinely packs for school on her own without needing a parent to double check that her homework is done, lunch is packed or that all of her belongings are in her backpack. However, this year she became distracted and left her homework at home a few times and she learned a valuable lesson as a result.

As a parent of a school aged child it is funny how my heart jumps when I see the phone number for the school show up on my caller ID. No matter what is going on around me I immediately stop and answer it, usually expecting it to be the school nurse telling me my child is sick. This year the phone number showed up on my phone within the first 10 minutes of school several times. Instead of the nurse, I heard my child’s voice telling me her homework was on her desk in her room and could I please bring it to her. I was grateful she was not sick and so I did. Then a few weeks later it happened again. This time there was a small discussion about responsibility. The third time…well she was informed there would be no further rescuing. In a way, I had redeemed her from the consequences of leaving her homework at home.

After the third incident I picked her up from school later that afternoon and it was amazing how different she was acting. She was grateful. She was helpful. She was kind to her little brother. But, more significantly, the remaining days of school she was exceptionally responsible about packing her belongs in her backpack. She knew she was redeemed from the consequence of forgetting her belongings and she changed her behavior as a result.

It seems simple.  Jesus redeemed us from our sin, so obviously we should change the behavior in our lives that led us to a place where we need redemption.  But, if we are honest with ourselves it is much harder than that. In fact, as I have grown in my relationship with God, He has pealed off layer after layer of sinfulness revealing to me how much further I need to walk with Him and pursue holiness.

Here is what I know when I respond to Christ as my Redeemer:  Jesus redeems me from my sin. Just as my daughter’s behavior changed after she was redeemed, knowing Jesus redeemed me should change my behavior too. The more I reflect on Jesus being my Redeemer the more I should desire to change the behaviors that caused me to need redemption in the first place. I know my Redeemer lives and I know He loves me enough to help me pursue a change in my behavior so I will be more like Him.

Amy