I got a hoot out of a joke about an old fellow’s conversation with a hitchhiker he had picked up.?
After getting settled into the passenger seat, the hitchhiker thanked the man for the ride, then asked, “but how do you know I’m not a serial killer?”?
“I’m not worried,” the driver replied. “The chances of two serial killers being in the same car have to be astronomical.”?
Well, I expect it would indeed be highly unlikely for two serial killers to end up in the same vehicle at the same time. But you realize it’s also unlikely for two “good” people to end up in the same car at the same time. That's because the Bible tells us “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” And that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Psalm 53:3).?”
That’s why mankind, captive to sin, needs a Redeemer. Perhaps one of the best explanations of that truth came from Boston preacher A.J. Gordon, who once encountered a little boy carrying a cage with several helpless birds inside. He had trapped them and had plans to feed them to his cat.??
The pastor offered the boy $2 for the cage and the birds. The boy accepted. Pastor Gordon then took the cage to the back of the church property, opened the door and set the captive birds free.?
The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Jesus redeeming us from the bondage of sin, paying the price for us with his own precious blood. ?
"That boy told me the birds were not songsters," Gordon told his congregation. “But when I released them, and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, 'Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!’"?
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jesus for what he did for us, dying on that cross as he did. We owe him our all because, as the Bible says, “you are not your own; you were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20).”
?So, if you’re ever sitting around, thinking how “good” you are, you might want to remember that no one is good, except Jesus. We may not be serial killers, but we were all captives to sin and were set free by a loving Redeemer.??
Roger Alford of Owenton, Kentucky, offers words of encouragement to residents of America's heartland. Reach him at rogeralford1@gmail.com.
