Harriet Tubman was born in a one-room cabin in the year 1820. The cabin had no windows, a dirt floor and only a blanket hung in the doorway to stop the wind. She was born a slave, which meant she was owned by another human being. As soon as she was old enough, she was made to work from sunup to sundown and was often punished for the slightest fault. Growing up as a slave was a hard life. Only in her imagination did she know what it was like to be free.
When Harriet was in her twenties, she decided to run away and escape to the North where she could find freedom. She hid in swamps and forests by day and walked by night. She was as careful as a hunted animal, because she knew that fugitive slave hunters would be on her trail, trying to capture her and bring her back for a reward of money.
After many nights of walking, she made it to the North and freedom, but she just couldn’t get on with her life. She was troubled about all the men, women and children still living in slavery. She just had to do something about it. An idea occurred to her that not many persons ever would have thought of. She, a runaway slave, would travel back into the South, hiding by day and walking by night, and help other slaves escape to freedom too.
This idea turned out to be her life’s work. In her lifetime, Harriet Tubman made seventeen difficult and dangerous journeys back into the South and was personally responsible for guiding about three hundred slaves to freedom. Slaves in the Tidelands of Maryland gave her the nickname of Moses, because, like Moses in the Bible, she led many to freedom.
Slavery in the United States was eventually outlawed, but there is another kind of slavery that human governments are powerless to bring to an end—the slavery of sin. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever” (John 8:34-3534Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. (John 8:34‑35)).
When people commit sin, Satan, the god of this world, acquires power over them, and he treats them like slaves. He jealously guards them and does all he can to prevent any from ever escaping his power. Like Pharaoh’s slave-drivers of old, he makes the lives of many “bitter with hard bondage” (Exodus 1:1414And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor. (Exodus 1:14)).
Harriet Tubman bravely went into the South to help souls escape to freedom. It was the mission of the Lord Jesus to come to this earth and set sinners free. “Then said Jesus ... If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-3231Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31‑32)).
To set sinners free, the Lord Jesus went all the way to Calvary’s cross where He gave His life as a ransom for sinners. You might be wondering how the death of any man could be the means of setting the human race free. The answer lies in the truth that Jesus was not only a man, but He was God at the same time. Because he was both God and Man in the same person, the sacrifice He made can wash away the sins of all those who believe on Him. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)).
After Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom, she couldn’t rest easy without helping other slaves find their freedom. The same ought to be true of all those who have found the sweet release from the guilt and power of sin through the Lord Jesus Christ. In their hearts they will want to tell others of the good news about the Saviour, and they won’t rest easy until they see many come to Him to be set free.
True liberty only comes from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. Won’t you consider what He has done on your behalf, and then trust Him as your Saviour? “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)). Have you thanked Him for the freedom He freely gives? Find out more of what Christ has done for you in The Bridge to Nowhere.