Redeemed

The other night there was nothing on television worth watching, not even a baseball game. It was 7:00 PM and Bob and I were staring at each other. He suggested I find a war movie on that “other channel.” You have to understand that Bob is extremely electronically challenged. That “other channel” he was talking about was the internet which I occasionally bring up on the television.

When I switched us over and we futilely scanned for a war movie, I convinced him it would be great to spend our evening watching some Christian music videos on YouTube. He agreed, thankfully.

One of the videos that popped up was the old hymn “Redeemed.”  As they began to sing, my heart began to soar, especially when they hit the chorus. “Redeemed, redeemed, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, His child, and forever I am.”

I was lifted into praise as I heard them sing that chorus. I was lifted even higher when they got to verse three. “I think of my blessed Redeemer, I worship Him all the day long, I sing, for I cannot be silent! His love is the theme of my song.”

His love is the theme of my song.

There are times when I cannot, and should not, contain the wonder of God’s love for me. No matter how difficult life gets, to know that I am “His child, and forever I am,” is overwhelmingly sufficient for every one of life’s moments.

Well, there was a one-day delay but William Shatner at 90 years old made it into space on Wednesday October 13.

The man who played Captain James T Kirk of the Starship Enterprise on movie sets for three seasons pretending to be deep in space finally touched the very edge of space for real. Seeing him exit his space craft last Wednesday, overcome with emotion, was touching.

As I watched him two things struck my soul. First, he remarked that he did not want to do somersaults in the zero-gravity environment, he simply wanted to look out the window. Pictures show the other astronauts flipping around the capsule while Shatner’s nose is pressed against the window.

The second thing that lingered with me was his comment, “I hope I never recover from this ….”  In other words, I hope I never allow the overpowering glory of this experience to fade or lose its intensity!

As I thought about those words, I remembered Peter’s words in his first letter. “For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.  He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you ….” [1 Peter 1:18-21 HCSB]

“You were redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ.”

 I remember the moment that happened. At the time I may not have understood what it cost my LORD to do that for me, but I was aware of the emotion and my surrender. Over time, the cost of my redemption has become more precious as I grow closer to my Savior and LORD.

The more I think about my redemption and that precious blood of Christ (the Lamb of God chosen before the foundation of the world for me!), the more I echo Shatner’s words. “I hope I never recover from this ….”