Devotions from Matt Redman – 10,000 Reasonsنموونە

Where Would We Be

“We couldn’t escape the sin and the shame that kept us bound. We couldn’t break through, we couldn’t reach you, so you reached down.”

As a writer of Christian worship songs I’m always looking for different ways to explain the glorious gospel story we find ourselves caught up in. A while back so many people around the world were gripped by the story of a group of Chilean miners trapped underground. Every few days we’d hear an update, and hope for the very best outcome. And after a couple of months that’s exactly what happened- when all 33 miners were rescued. It’s said that around a billion people watched their rescue on tv, and hearing that fact led me to think their story might serve as a great song idea. So this song uses some of the terminology of being trapped in such a situation, and likens it to how we ourselves can be bound by sin. Their story and their rescue is a really helpful way of depicting what happens when the good news of Jesus breaks through into a life. Luke 19:10 says:

“…the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.”

Another way of saying ‘seek and save’ is to say ‘search and rescue’. These miners were way underground and cut off from life above. They had no possible escape route; no way of finding their own way to life and safety. Instead, their only hope of freedom had to come from above- a search and rescue party reaching down. The same is true spiritually for us. We were underground, lost in darkness and trapped by the sin and shame over our heads. We had no way of breaking through, or figuring out a way to become free. The only hope we had came from above- the mercy and might of a Savior breaking through the darkness, forging a way of escape. Jesus came to seek and save us. We are, safe again, walking in the daylight, and breathing in His freedom. This is the gospel-the good news for all those who will take hold of it.