I was reading a book (one who’s title has escaped me right now!) and in it they shared the most incredible story about Abraham Lincoln. Here is a direct excerpt from the book.

“An old story about Abraham Lincoln (probably apocryphal) depicts him visiting a slave auction years before he rose to prominence and became the US president. According to the legend, he stood at the back of the auction and noticed the atmosphere change as a number of slave girls were paraded through the room. It was abundantly clear what these slave girls were going to be used for. The first slave girl was auctioned and the bids flooded in, each bid met with cheers. Lincoln was repulsed by what he saw. From the back of the room, he loudly offered his bid, silencing the crowd in the process. His bid went well beyond what the slave girl was worth and well beyond what anyone else could afford. The crowd was stunned. What kind of man would pay that amount of money for a slave girl? It made no sense. The slave girl looked terrified, frightened at the prospect of what such a master would do. The auctioneer closed the bids and pointed the slave girl in the direction of her new master. She made her way to the back of the room with every eye fastened on her.

As she approached Lincoln, he looked her in the eye and simply said, ‘Young lady, you are free.’ The crowd leaned in, totally perplexed. She asked what his words meant. ‘It means you are free,’ he responded. ‘Does that mean,’ she said, ‘that I can say whatever I want to say?’ Lincoln said, ‘Yes, my dear, you can say whatever you want to say.’ ‘Does that mean,’ she asked, ‘that I can be whatever I want to be?’ ‘Yes,’ Lincoln replied, ‘you can be whatever you want to be.’ ‘Does that mean I can go wherever I want to go?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘you can go wherever you want to go.’

The girl paused for a moment to take this all in, and then, with tears streaming down her face, responded, ‘Then I want to go with you.‘”

What a beautiful story. Of course the author was sharing this and relating it to what Jesus did for us. Like any story it isn’t perfect or meant to display full theology but it does illustrate so beautifully what Jesus did for us.

• He saw our condition – enslaved to the world
• He paid well beyond what we were worth
• He offers us freedom even though He could own us and use us for anything
• Our response therefore should be – I want to go with you

Thank you Jesus for your kindness and your compassion for me.