A credit card company was giving out free movie tickets in return for usage above a certain amount, at a roadshow I helped organise last year. The tickets were admission for the premiere screening of a summer blockbuster, and hence were much coveted.
I saw how people queued up early and rushed to redeem the tickets, even to the point of carelessly charging their cards just to get a shot at the screening. And I saw how their faces fell when they were told the tickets had all been given out. They walked away with their heads lowered. Just because they missed the window timeframe for the redemption.
Redemption is of course a commercial term, used in ancient times for the buying and selling of commodity, mainly for the transaction involving slaves. It particularly refers to the purchase of a slave in order to set the slave free. In that sense, it is the most wonderful word in all Christian vocabulary. Jesus' redemption of us from our sins have made us free from the slavery of sin and death.
As I looked at the crowd who thronged the movie ticket redemtion counter that day, I saw faces lined with hope, anticipation and excitement. They wanted the tickets, they were willing to wait, beg, steal or borrow for them!
What a stark contrast to people's reaction when the offer of Christ's redemption is made to them. (No clambering here for the first place). Truly we do not value nor desire God, eternal life and all those invisible things promised in the Bible. We don't care for the free ticket to heaven. We have lost all sense of affinity for those things, being conditioned by the flesh. We make excuses and console ourselves, all the while headed for hell. And we chose to do so.
American theologian Jonathan Edwards opined that our choices are determined by what we think is the most desirable course of action. So why don't men choose God? Has sin has so blurred their vision that they do not consider righteousness to be the way of personal fulfillment?
I am a movie freak. So I fall into the category of the lesser beings who would 'kill and maim' for the movie tickets. And it is a constant battle to choose between what my minds thinks is most desirable, to what the Word says is best.
And yes, I did manage to get tickets to the premiere screening. They were given to me without being asked.
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