"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45, ESV)

At the end of a long day of work, Kim sat beside me on the couch with her laptop open. While scrolling through the local farm ads on Craigslist, I noticed her attention shift . . . in horror. Wordlessly, my friend rotated the computer screen toward me and pointed. At first, I struggled to make sense of what my eyes were seeing. 

I saw a picture posted of two horses for sale. The single photograph caused disjointed thoughts to jam in my mind. The animals didn’t appear to look like normal horses. They were too hairy . . . too angular . . . too emaciated . . .

The truth hit me with a concussive wave of realization. I was looking at the most severe case of equine starvation I had ever encountered. The horses’ overgrown winter hair was a witness to their bodies’ final attempt to stay warm without muscle. Angular bones were harshly defined beneath their gaunt, wooly overgrowth. 

In that moment, we knew both horses were in desperate need of rescue. Together, we prayed they would survive the night. 

The next morning, I called the phone number attached to the ad and spoke with the horses’ owner. When I voiced interest in purchasing his horses, I learned that three equines used to live on the property—but one of the horses had already died. My heart churned, knowing that time was short for the remaining survivors. 

When I hung up the phone, I hurried to find Kim and Deirdre. Within moments, we hooked up a horse trailer and were on our way to their remote location.

Upon arrival, we saw the horses were in far worse condition than the pictures revealed. One horse was a full-grown Paint mare. The second was a one and a half-year-old chestnut gelding. As I placed my hands on the youngster, I swallowed hard to keep from weeping. It felt as if I were petting a skeleton. Instead of soft muscles, his sternum jutted out sharply from his chest, as if a lethal bony spear tip threatened to break through his fragile skin. 

Without hesitation, we asked to purchase both horses. Kim ensured that papers were signed and payment was made. While our Founder secured their freedom, Deirdre and I haltered the horses and led them toward the waiting trailer. At first, the skeletal gelding stumbled when he tried to weakly lift himself off the ground. On his second attempt, a small handful of hay was all the motivation necessary to inspire him to step upward into the trailer.

After the horses were safely loaded, we made our way back to the ranch. There, the staff prepared a quarantine paddock to welcome our new rescues.

When our veterinary team arrived, they gave us sobering news. According to the Body Condition Score—a scale from 1-10 measuring equine body fat—both horses were determined to be a "1." This was the lowest possible score before death. 

In addition to his extreme emaciation, the young gelding had a concerning drainage of thick puss from under his jaw. The wound tract was long and deep. Along with a refeeding plan, we were given medication to begin treatment of the gelding’s alarming infection.

In consideration of the young horse’s rescue, we decided to name the chestnut gelding “Ransom.” 

After a few weeks, Ransom quickly began gaining weight. However, the antibiotics and topical medication we applied for his infection appeared to have no effect. A continual, steady stream of heavy pus continued to drain from his face.

When the gelding was finally strong enough to undergo more extensive treatment, our veterinarian tried a new approach to the gelding’s wound. Further diagnostics confirmed her original suspicion . . . that the source of infection was a rotting tooth. 

A few weeks later, Ransom’s decayed tooth was removed and the infection flushed out. What remained was a large empty hole inside his mouth—a hole that was open all the way through his bone and his skin at the bottom of his jawline. 

Our veterinarian skillfully packed where the tooth was removed. For the rest of the opening, she prescribed a unique medicinal protocol.

The long narrow drainage tract she filled with . . . honey.

Honey possessed both antimicrobial and strong healing properties. In fact, honey had more to offer than man-made pharmaceutical medication. With these strategies in place, our new gelding healed almost instantly.

Ransom’s name reminds us that similar to how this horse’s freedom was purchased with a price—Jesus paid the purchase price for our freedom. The gelding’s healing journey also highlights a powerful parallel to our life with Christ.

Like Ransom, although Jesus has already bought our freedom, there still may be areas of our hearts that need healing. Their still may be places deep within our lives where a continual drainage of negativity, brokenness or addiction remains. These outward symptoms can alert us to a deeper infection beneath the surface. 

No amount of topical treatment or man-made medication can cure the brokenness Jesus wants to heal and redeem within our lives.

The only thing required . . . is complete surrender to His soothing hand. When we yeild what is broken inside our hearts to Jesus—He alone is the One who can fully flush and heal the surrounding infection.

Once we choose to yield our hurting places to Him and He restores us . . . the once infected place is emptied out. What we choose to fill this space with—will determine our future. We can choose to fill the void with a healing ointment far more powerful than any self-help man has to offer—the Word of God. Scripture compares God’s Word to honey:

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”—Psalm 119:103

Today, do you have any infected places within your heart to surrender to Jesus’ surgical hand? Will you allow Him to speak to your wounds—and fill every painful gap with the healing power of His Word?

Our young gelding, Ransom, continues to grow and gain strength. He reminds us it is the Word of God that seals, heals and strengthens us for the calling God has for each of our lives. When we surrender to the redemptive love and healing power of Christ, like Ransom, our future is transformed with radiant hope.