Thought for the Week: The debt free life of sin we can have in Christ

I wonder if you’ve heard of a man called Thomas or Tam Purdie?

Tam Purdie was born in 1767 and in 1804 Tam was caught poaching on the land of Sir Walter Scott.

When he appeared in court for his wrongdoing the Sheriff-Depute that day happened to be Sir Walter Scott himself.

In these days, poaching was a very serious offence and a fine would likely be imposed, possibly as much as £10 as well as a prison sentence.

You can imagine how Tam must have felt when he had to appear before the man whose land he was poaching on.

Tam plead guilty after explaining that his family were hungry and needed food.

Expecting the worst, and having no money to pay a fine and escape imprisonment, Tam was astonished to be told that his fine had been paid in full and he was free to go.

Apparently, Sir Walter Scott was troubled and concerned about Tam’s unfortunate circumstances so he took pity on him and paid Tam’s fine himself.

But the stories not finished. Tam visited Scott to thank him for his kindness and to Tam’s astonishment Scott offered him a job on his estate as his ‘Special Assistant’ managing the farm and its affairs. This resulted in Tam and his family finding a new home on the estate. Tam and Sir Walter Scott’s became best friends as a result of their original meeting.

Why am I telling you this story?

This story about Tam Purdie is a reminder of the gospel message.

Tam could do nothing about his situation. He was guilty. Sir Walter Scott took pity on Tam and paid his debt.

We could do nothing about our predicament caused by Adam in the Garden of Eden, but God in his grace and mercy took pity on us and sent Jesus into the world to pay the debt we owed God.

Sir Walter Scott, in his grace, literally adopted Tam and his family into his family and a great friendship was formed.

Every believer has been adopted into God’s family, so every believer can have a best friend in Jesus.

God has done all of this for us in Christ, simple because of his great love for us, so let’s all enjoy the debt free life of sin we can have in Christ.