It’s Friday!  Woop woop!

FITNESS
This morning’s workout was not the kind of workout I had in mind.  It involved being in business casual attire and getting very, very wet.

It’s called shoveling snow, and many of us here in the Midwest find ourselves breaking a sweat over both the physical exertion of the task and the stress of being late to work.

Both did a number on me this morning!

What driveway?

Husband amidst the wintery wonderland.

Yep.

We had gotten dumped on all night, and the snow was the heavy, sloshy, herniate-a-disc kind of snow.  I got no less than 500 yards from my driveway this morning before getting stranded halfway up a snowy incline in our neighborhood, along with two other unfortunate neighbors. Luckily for me, that handy husband of mine had stored a shovel in the trunk for such occasions, and after 35 min of shoveling and spinning the wheels, two of us were on our way again. (The third neighbor ditched the car and decided to trek back home on foot).

Only 15 minutes late to work and slightly disheveled looking!  Not bad, Wisconsin girl.

FOOD
Breakfast was another quickie this morning.  (I’m so looking forward to the breakfast weekend… when we have time to make yummy, more time-consuming breakfasts, like pancakes or stove-top oatmeal!  Does anyone else look forward to the weekend for the breakfast??)

I grabbed one of my homemade protein energy bars and an apple.  The perfect on-the-run breakfast that actually fills my belly until lunch time!  (It’s all the amazing protein that’s crammed into that tiny little bar. ;-) )

 

Grab n’ Go.

FAITH
I’m over halfway though the book of Isaiah in my reading plan.  It’s an interesting Old Testament book that I’ve honestly never read straight through before.  One verse that caught my attention today was in chapter 35, verse 10:

Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.  They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy.  Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

This is a cool description of the hope of restoration God’s people have to look forward to, but what grabbed me today was the word ransom.

The word ransom is used a number of times throughout Scripture when describing what Jesus did for us, (i.e. “He came…to give his life as a ransom for many,” Mark 10:45; “I will shout for joy and sing your praises, for you have ransomed me,” Psalm 71:23)…  But today I spent some time reflecting on what it means to be ransomed.

When I think of a ransom, I think of the cost someone is willing to pay to free another.  You know, like in the movies:  kid gets kidnapped, bad guy asks for a million dollars, family come up with it to ransom their child.

Webster’s Dictionary definition: a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity.

So after some reflecting, it became a bit clearer to me how appropriate the word is used in Isaiah 35.  Our sin –the junk that separates us from a holy and perfect God– has left us in captivity.  “Everyone who sins is a slave of sin,” John 8:34.  Paul describes sin several times as bonds or chains that hold us down.  Captivity.

But Jesus, in paying the price that we deserved, covered all that sin and freed us from its enslavement.  He paid the price.  He ransomed.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
If you’ve put your faith in Christ’s sacrifice for you:  how’s it feel to be ransomed?

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