Soul For Sale

He restores my soul;  He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  ~Psalm 23:3     

     This is a real advertisement from Craigslist for the Hudson Valley that I came across last August.  It reads:  Authentic human soul,  $800,  I am offering my genuine human soul on loan for 1 year in exchange for $800 cash.  Legitimate offers.  Serious buyers/investors only.  Will type up contract.

      I came across the advertisement, saved it, because I wondered about it, and then in the press of returning to school with the kids,  I completely forgot about it until I found it on my computer while looking for something else.  I wish I could tell you more about the advertisement, like why someone would decide to sell their soul at 3:00 in the morning, or how they decided their soul had a market value of eight hundred dollars for one year, or even, if there were any takers.
     This is not the first time a soul has been offered for sale.  A man from Ontario, Canada attempted to auction his soul on eBay. His listing was cancelled under a longstanding eBay policy that specifically forbids selling your soul.  Bidding had reached $20.50.
     What is the price of a soul after all?  Jesus came “at just the right time,” for the purpose of redeeming us.  He came to purchase us off of the auction block of sin.  He didn’t casually disregard us, or forget about us because He had other things to do.  He knew the cost.  He was the cost.  We were bought with a price.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life ...,  but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  ~1 Peter 1:18-19     

      Jesus willingly paid the complete debt for our soul on Calvary’s cross two thousand years ago.    With love, He ransomed us, redeemed us, and restored us.  He gave us value, and it is far greater than $800 a year.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16

     While we were bought with a price, we are offered the precious gift of salvation freely.  We can not pay for it, work for it, or be good enough for it.  It is ours as a gift, freely given from a loving Father.   We are all just one breath, one heartbeat, one illness, or accident away from eternity.  There is no greater gift than to have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb of God.  Not for one hour, not for one year, but for all eternity.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy   ~Psalms 107:1-2 

     Have you given Him your soul?