A small band of American trappers were wending their way across the western wilderness when they suddenly came upon an Indian encampment.
They were horrified to find that an Indian boy belonging to a hostile tribe had been captured, and was about to be burned at the stake. He was securely bound, and the faggots were ready to be lighted. Their deepest compassion was aroused in favor of the little fellow who was so soon to feel the scorching flames amid the fierce exultation of his savage foes, and they resolved to redeem the captive if that were possible. Advancing towards the Indian chiefs, they offered to pay a ransom price to give the boy his liberty. But this offer was firmly rejected. They were not going to deny themselves the pleasure of carrying out their wicked desires of cruelty. The white man could keep his gold.
At this juncture the trappers held a hurried consultation, and determined that the Indian boy must be delivered. They could not stand by and see him slowly burned to death before their eyes. If gold could not redeem him, they were prepared, if need be, to shed the last drop of their blood to effect his rescue. They knew the risks they were taking, but they had counted the cost, and were prepared for the consequences. Approaching the redskin warriors again, they said,
“The Indian boy must not be burned. If you do not take the price we have offered, we will fight for the boy, although the last man of us should have to die on the spot where we stand.”
It was a striking situation. The little captive had no claim whatever on the white men’s compassion. He belonged to an alien race. It was in a sense no affair of theirs.
Surely this is a striking picture of the love that gave Jesus to die on Calvary. We had no claim on His pity. We were enemies, and He might have left us to perish. Yet He had compassion—a compassion so deep and strong that when no ransom could be found, He gave Himself.
When the Indian warriors saw the set and determined faces of these few white men, each with his rifle ready to do its deadly work, they considered matters more carefully, and then said
“We will take the white man’s gold.” Immediately the ransom price was paid, and at the same moment the sharp knife of a trapper cut the bonds that held the captive boy, and he was free.
What joy would fill the little fellow’s heart! He understood all that was done. He knew he was delivered, and he knew what he had been delivered from. How true this is also of all who have received Christ as the “‘ransom of the soul,” and been delivered from the condemnation of sin.
But the work of the trappers was not yet done, they were resolved to keep the little captive safe till he was clear out of danger. Taking him along with them, they continued their journey, leaving the Indian encampment far behind. On the third clay a solitary Indian was seen on the distant prairie. As he drew near, the boy’s keen eye recognized him.
“This is my father,” he said. And in a few minutes the trappers had the joy of presenting the boy safe and sound to him.
This speaks to us of a day yet to come, when Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, shall present each one who has been redeemed through His precious blood, to His Father in heaven. Will you be there?
ML 01/23/1938