Fifteen years ago I remember waiting anxiously for the latest news…and praying. Captain Scott O’Grady’s F-16C had been shot down as he was flying over Serbia. Had he been killed or captured? Was he seriously injured? The hours ticked by. Five days passed. On the sixth day another pilot picked up a faint message from O’Grady’s radio. He was alive, managing somehow to hide from hostile soldiers, and surviving on leaves, grass and ants.

Immediately all the resources needed for a daring rescue operation were set in motion. O’Grady was snatched up to safety by a helicopter – and the US rejoiced. Newsweek magazine reported that the weapons and machinery used for the rescue of that one pilot were valued at $6 billion. Was it worth it?

We can’t estimate the value of one human soul – because we could never calculate the price God paid to rescue us. While you and I were still in our sins, Christ died for us. God spared no cost, including His own Son, to see us rescued from a destructive life of sin. God is good!

Tags: cost, redemption, rescue