在20世纪30年代的大萧条时期，许多人就连下一顿饭的着落都没有，有时他们不得不拿自己最后一点值钱的财产（或许是父母留下的纪念品）去当铺换钱。他们会收到一张典当券，然后，如果以后能凑够足够的钱，他们就可以赎回他们的珍贵物品，把它从“当库”中买回来。
据我所知，圣经时代没有当铺。但圣经讲的是那些陷入贫困的人，他们不得不卖掉家庭农场，或者把自己卖掉去服侍人，他们急需一条出路。通常都是由亲戚来赎回。
我妻子的祖母过去常给我们讲起一些可怜人，他们去敲她的门，乞求一点吃的东西。感谢神，她有足够的面粉，每周能多烤一些面包给那些饥饿的人。
从来没有感受过贫困的人，有时反而不能持续地感到满足。这不只是多愁善感的说法。若不去敲神的门，乞求祂的怜悯，我们的境况就是绝望。在神那里，我们能找到救赎。我们会发现，耶稣，我们的救赎主，以祂的宝血和死在十字架上为代价，将我们买赎了回来。
主啊，想到我们被祢的宝血买赎回来，这真是太奇妙了！感谢祢我们属于祢。阿们。
彼得前书 1:13-21
13 所以要约束你们的心，谨慎自守，专心盼望耶稣基督显现的时候所带来给你们的恩。
14 你们既做顺命的儿女，就不要效法从前蒙昧无知的时候那放纵私欲的样子。
15 那召你们的既是圣洁，你们在一切所行的事上也要圣洁。
16 因为经上记着说：“你们要圣洁，因为我是圣洁的。”
17 你们既称那不偏待人、按各人行为审判人的主为父，就当存敬畏的心度你们在世寄居的日子，
18 知道你们得赎，脱去你们祖宗所传流虚妄的行为，不是凭着能坏的金银等物，
19 乃是凭着基督的宝血，如同无瑕疵、无玷污的羔羊之血。
20 基督在创世以前是预先被神知道的，却在这末世才为你们显现。
21 你们也因着他，信那叫他从死里复活，又给他荣耀的神，叫你们的信心和盼望都在于神。
"You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed... but with the precious blood of Christ. . . ." — 1 Peter 1:18-19
During the Great Depression in the 1930s, when many people didn’t know where their next meal was coming from, they sometimes had to bring their last valuable possession (perhaps a memento from their parents) to get cash at a pawn shop. They would receive a pawn ticket as a voucher, and then, later, if they could scrape together enough money, they could redeem their precious item, buying it back “out of hock.”
As far as I know, there were no pawn shops in Bible times. But the Bible tells of people who fell into poverty and had to sell the family farm, or sell themselves into service, and they desperately needed a way out. Often it was up to a relative to redeem them (see Leviticus 25:25-55).
My wife’s grandmother used to tell us of destitute people who would knock on her door, begging for something to eat. Thank God, she had enough flour to bake a few extra loaves of bread each week to give to people who were hungry.
It is not just sentimentality to say that people who have never felt the pinch of poverty are sometimes poorer for their constant comfort. Rich or poor, we are all, in a sense, “in hock.” Our plight is desperate until we knock on God’s door and beg for his mercy. There we will find redemption. We will find that Jesus, our Redeemer, bought us back, at the cost of his precious blood, by dying on the cross.
How strangely wonderful it is, Lord, to think that we have been redeemed by your blood. Thank you that we belong to you. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
