A dignified lady who possessed a valuable diamond ring was once walking along the street in Paris, France. In pulling off her glove she dislodged her ring, which rolled along the ground and dropped through a grating into a drain. Greatly distressed, she peered down into the catch basin, which was full of black, watery mud. She tried to retrieve her treasure with the end of her umbrella, but her efforts simply pushed the ring deeper. In desperation, she finally rolled up her sleeve, plunged her arm deep in the black muck, and in a few seconds retrieved her ring.

Isn’t that a great illustration of God’s reaching down into our sinful lives to save our souls? He plunged Himself into the world of sin around us, took us out of the horrible pit of sin, positioned us in Christ, and set us among the princes in glory. As Jim Otis says, He saved us from the guttermost to the uttermost.

Tags: grace, lost, redemption