365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 256: Ransom

Ransom

"For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." (Hebrews 9:15 NIV)

Some days, it feels as though my mind is being held captive.

My mental wheel is tied up with bindings of lies and half-truths and full truths out of context—and distractions...so many distractions.

How do I ransom it? How do I free it?

Telling myself to "just think about something else" doesn't do any good. I have to replace a thought that binds with a thought that frees. There has to be an exchange. In a ransom in the usual context, money is exchanged for the captive, meeting the captor's demands. When my mind is being held captive, I need to exchange lies for truth, distraction for focus. God's names—spoken, whispered, sung, declared, prayed, silently repeated, written out, meditated on, memorized, or screamed at the top of my lungs—are that truth, that focus. 

When my mind is tied up by worry, Yahweh-Shalom ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by noise, the God of Silence ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by sin, my Redeemer ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by weariness, the Resting Place ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by darkness, the Father of Lights ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by defeat, the Victor ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by betrayal, the Faithful and True ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by loneliness, my Friend ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by selfishness, the Servant ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by brokenness, the Builder ransoms it.

When my mind is tied up by uncertainty, my Confidence ransoms it.

"Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom."

(From "How Deep the Father's Love For Us;" words and music by Stuart Townsend; arr. by Carol Tornquist.)