After yesterday’s sermon on being rescued, I’ve been thinking about some recent and some not-so-recent movies that deal with being rescued.  Do you know the one thing they all have in common?  Every one of them, from the 1990 Disney classic “Rescuers Down Under” to the latest Liam Neeson “Taken” film to whatever Hollywood is currently working on…they all look at the long, strenuous process of the rescue.  The movies start with a person needing rescuing and then follow the rescuer through the painstaking process of finding and saving the victim.  The climax of every one of these films is the person being rescued and going home.

But think about how Christ has rescued us.  He doesn’t labor on and on.  He doesn’t battle against an overwhelming foe.  No, He simply says I love you…here is my life as payment for your.  You are rescued!  Our rescue story with Christ starts with the rescue as the opening scene, not the climax.  Jesus saves us and then the rest of the story begins.

What does your story look like?  Are you walking with Jesus, “living in a worthy manner” as Paul puts it?  Or are you living like your rescue was the end of the story rather than the beginning?  Are you living in the freedom Christ brings or living with a spiritual Stockholm Syndrome?  Let us walk in freedom that we can find only in Christ!  Let the salvation He brings us be the defining reason we choose to get out of bed each morning with a smile on our faces and joy in our hearts!

In Christ Alone,

Pastor Jan