Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we’ll transition from availing ourselves to be chosen by God, to being redeemed.

Today’s scripture, Galatians 4:4‭-‬5 (AMP), says…
But when [in God’s plan] the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the [regulations of the] Law, so that He might redeem and liberate those who were under the Law, that we [who believe] might be adopted as sons [as God’s children with all rights as fully grown members of a family].

Consider…
Yesterday we talked about the most important ability to God, our availability. Today, we transition from being available, to being redeemed.

In 2011, the NFL went to a slotted salary scale for drafted rookies. That means, teams know in advance the cost of choosing one of the available rookies at a draft slot.

In 1 Peter 1:20 (NLT) we’re told that God knew the price for our redemption before the world began. The verse says…
God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

And Hebrews 2:14 (NLT), explains why Christ had to become human to pay the cost to redeem
us…
Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.

As the Holy Spirit walks me through the scriptures, He reveals that Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price to redeem those of us who have chosen to avail ourselves to Him to be our Master.

The Holy Spirit showed me another parallel between chosen draftees and redeemed sinners. We’re both like sheep, in that…

• The Shepherd chooses us
• The Shepherd will lead us
• The Shepherd sets the path He wants us to take

Like sheep, when we’re chosen by our Shepherd, we join a herd of fellow sheep (teammates), all headed in the same direction. We listen to and follow the Shepherd’s voice from now on.

This reminds me of what Jesus said in John 10:27 (NLT)…
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

As I wrote that, the Holy Spirit showed me more evidence of just how valuable we sheep are to our Good Shepherd. In John 10:11‭-‬15 (NLT), Jesus said…
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.

With Jesus’ words, “I sacrifice my life for the sheep”, repeating over and over in my mind, the Holy Spirit said the difference between drafted players and selected sheep, is the price paid. You see NFL owners will pay the players they choose out of the excess monies they make from using them. However, our Good Shepherd, who has infinite resources, chose to pay for His sheep with all that He had. He sacrificed His life, to save us from the penalty, power and presence of sin.

With that, the Holy Spirit re-emphasized words from today’s scripture…
so that He might redeem and liberate.

The Holy Spirit said emphatically…
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. – John 3:17 NLT

With Jesus’ words, the Holy Spirit pointed out, owners choose players who they judge to be the best, but God selected a world of sinners, for whom He gave His very best!

Lastly, the Holy Spirit is telling me to remind us that, in the same way owners expect loyalty from their chosen player, God expects loyalty from His redeemed sinners. He recited 1 Corinthians 7:23 (NLT)…
God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.

The Holy Spirit is saying, live redeemed.

He explained, the only difference between a talented available college player and a NFL rookie, is that the rookie has been chosen by a team. In the same way, the only difference between a sinner and a saint, is the sinner has been redeemed by the Savior.

So today, just like teams know their rookies are far from perfect, know that God knows we are too.

He tells us, in light of that fact, not to spend our lives focused on our imperfections, but rather remember that you have been chosen by God, so live simply redeemed.

Today’s song is….
Simply Redeemed

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)