She was only 13 as she stood on the auction block that day. Her head held high but she was filled with such shame and sadness. Her clothes were worn and filthy from working in the cotton fields from sun up to sun down… and she was only 13. Her life had been one of loneliness and misery. Her parents were torn from her when she was five years old and sold to a slave owner 10 miles from the plantation where she lived… and she was only 13. She had no siblings to talk to, play with, or confide in; the only friend she ever had, was a chicken named Heather she fed every morning and collected the eggs she laid to carry to her master. She was all alone in a world where the color of her skin meant one thing; she was a slave to use and be owned by another human being.

 

One morning she woke up and her master said to her, “Today is your lucky day, I don’t need you any more, I bought two male slaves to take your place. Get your stuff and let’s go.” But for the 13-year-old little girl, she was conflicted with fear and excitement. This would be the day for her to discover her new identity, a new name, a new master, and new rules to follow and adhere to. If she is a good slave, maybe she can even live with the other slaves on her new plantation?

 

So they got into her master’s buggy and he drove the 20 miles to the city square where the slave auctions were held. He took the little girl and placed her on the auction block. There she was surrounded by white men looking her over to determine her worth. Then she heard the voice of the auctioneer, “Give me five dollars, five dollars for this young specimen.” Then someone said, “Five dollars.” Another voice resounded, “I’ll give ya, twenty dollars.” Another man walked up on the auction block, pulled open her mouth to examine her teeth. “Those teeth are still in good condition so I won’t have to pull them right away. How about twenty-five dollars?” the man yelled. The bidding continued for 20 minutes. Then, out of the crowd, a man with a beard dressed in an expensive and lavish suit using his strong but assertive voice said, “one-hundred- thousand dollars!” Everyone got quiet as eyes gazed upon him. They all thought about what kind of foolishness is this. No one has ever paid over a one-hundred dollars for a slave at our auctions. Then the auctioneer hit his gavel on the desk and said, “Sold to the gentlemen in the back for one-hundred-thousand dollars.”  The little girl, for the first time, held her head up higher in total amazement and thought, “Am I worth one-hundred-thousand dollars or even twenty dollars? I must really prove my worth to my new master so he will be grateful that he paid so much money for me. I will be good and work hard for him!”

 

The little girl and the man who purchased her got into his carriage and drove home to his new plantation. To her surprise, there were no slave quarters and all the colored people lived in the house where the master lived. The little girl was in awe and couldn’t say a word to her master as he lifted her out of the carriage and pointed the way to her new home. Then he said these words to her, “You are free to stay or free to go. Here is your Certificate of Freedom legal document. Because of love, I came to set you free. You don’t owe me anything, everything I give to you is FREE. The little girl didn’t and couldn’t understand what it meant to be free. All of her life she learned two things; duty and obedience. And now her new master wants something different, friendship and love. Because she didn’t know what that meant. For the next seven years of her life, he taught her what it meant to be loved and how to live free. But there were days she heard the voice of the old slave master in her head and she acted and reacted to her new master as she had learned before with her old master. It took years to really understand her new identity and accept her new lifestyle in her new home.

 

On her 20^th birthday, seven years later, she went to her master who she called, Master Grace and said these words to him, “Because you saw me for my value and worth, and you never used me or demanded anything of me, today I choose to be yours forever. You once told me I am free to go, but today I willingly choose you and to stay. I want to become whatever your heart desires of me. You chose me for yourself without any underline goals except one… to make me free. Now I know what it feels like to be FREE and I don’t ever want to be a slave again!” With those words, she prostrated herself at his feet in humble reverence, then he lifted her from the ground and said, “I betroth you to be my wife forever! Because you finally discovered my heart, I don’t seek duty or obedience, more than I seek your love and companionship!”

 

As we celebrate the 4^th of July, remember the sacrifice made by our Lord to no longer make us slaves under rules and laws but for love and eternal companionship with Him.

 

• No longer slaves to master sin, master flesh but free to live in righteousness.
• No longer slaves to follow rules to be accepted because we have been accepted in the Beloved.
• No longer slaves trying to prove our worth and value to God, because He has already accepted us.
• No longer slaves working for Him or being used by Him for His approval; we have been approved.
• No longer slaves living in fear that He may be disappointed with us; He understood all of our limitations and struggles when He bought us.
• We are His forever but we can choose another master to serve if we choose to.
  
  
  

Christ made us FREE! Stay that way. Do not get chained all over again in the Law and its kind of religious worship. Galatians 5:1 Amplified