The headline told the whole story. The young wife had been caught dealing in drugs, arrested, tried and sentenced to a prison term. Then “True Love” stepped in. Her husband asked to be allowed to serve her term in jail so that she could go free.
The judge said that it was the first time in his sixteen years on the bench that he had seen such an agreement. He said, “He didn’t have to go to jail. He volunteered to go!”
This is true love, the truest, the greatest love that ever was or ever will be. How we should respond with love and gratitude for that great sacrifice!
But what happened to the young wife? The husband looked forward, when the prison term was up, to a happy reunion with the wife for whom he had given up so much. But he learned that she “would not be waiting for him when he got out.”
What a heartbreaking disappointment! How could she reject the love that had saved her from the penalty of the law she had broken?
We can condemn her ingratitude, but have we been as guilty? The Lord Jesus Christ bore all the penalty of our sin when He died on the cross, when “He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” that we might go free. What response have we made? What thanks have we given?
Think of it! All He asks in return for His great sacrifice is that we should accept it. What love could ever equal this?