“I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”       Isaiah 44:22 NLT

But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1 NLT

These two verses are from Isaiah in the Old Testament. They use a word that you may not know, “ransomed”. Ransom is the price paid, to rescue or free someone from captivity or a heavy penalty, like sin. And when the ransom is paid for a person, then they are set free. They are redeemed! (another word you may not have known)

When God takes something bad and makes it good, that thing is redeemed. In our verses for today, God says he has swept away our sins like a cloud or like the morning mist which disappears quickly.

 When you do something you know is wrong, that is a sin. We all have sin and do things that don’t please God, and we are separated from Him. But God calls us to return to Him. He forgives us, He redeems us. He pays the price to buy us back. And God did this by sending His Son, Jesus, to the cross in exchange for us. Jesus died for our sins, so we don’t have to. He exchanged His life for ours. God redeemed us through Jesus, His Son.

The verses above tell us that our sins are “swept away”, gone, because we are redeemed. And now read the second verse with your name in it (instead of Jacob and Israel). God says that we have nothing to fear because he has redeemed us by name. We belong to Him! That’s a comforting thought and a nice feeling, isn’t it? We are God’s children, all of us.

This week thank Jesus for redeeming you and paying the price, so you can be free, redeemed. Draw a picture of Jesus and put it in your room to remind yourself that your sins are swept away, that Jesus calls you by name, and that you are redeemed!

Blessings and joy that you are redeemed!