by Al Lacy
Benjamin grinned. “That’s what a servant is supposed to do, Mr. Dan.”
“Well, you’re sure doing a good job.”
“Thank you. I mean to always do a good job for the people who have given me a new life.”
As the days passed, the friendship between Dan and Benjamin grew stronger and deeper. They went fishing together often, and Dan found many other reasons to spend time with his new friend, which pleased Benjamin exceedingly.
One day at midmorning, Zack was in his den doing some paperwork and heard a light tap at his door. “Yes?”
“It is Benjamin, Mr. Johnson.”
“Please come in.”
Benjamin stepped into the room and closed the door.
“What can I do for you?”
“Sir, I have all the work finished that you and Mrs. Johnson have assigned me for today.”
Zack’s eyebrows arched. “Already?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hmm. It looks like you can take the rest of the day off. Maybe if Dan isn’t too busy, the two of you can go fishing again.”
“Well, sir, if you will allow it, there is something else I would like to do.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“Sir, I would like your permission to go to the fields and work with the slaves. I … I want them to know that I do not look down on them just because I am your hired servant.”
Zack eased back in his chair. “Benjamin, this pleases me very much. I appreciate your attitude toward the slaves. It is very commendable.”
“Mr. Johnson, it hasn’t been so long since I was a slave. You treat them wonderfully, but they are still slaves. I want to work with them whenever my assignments are caught up, if you will allow it.”
“I sure will. This makes me think more of you than ever.” Rising to his feet, he said, “Let’s go find Dan. I’ll let him assign you to the work crew that needs you the most.”
A few days later, Dan and Benjamin were riding horses together, heading for town. As they trotted along, Dan said, “I like the way you handle yourself with a horse, Benjamin. You seem so at home in the saddle.”
“I should, Mr. Dan. I learned to ride almost before I learned to walk. I can handle a cow pony, too. You know, riding herd at roundup time and having to keep the strays with the herd.”
“Oh yes. That’s something I’ll have to learn when I get to Texas.”
“You will learn it real fast once you are herding cattle.”
Dan was quiet for a moment, then said, “Benjamin, I want to tell you what an impact your volunteering to work in the fields with the slaves has had on them. You have captured their hearts.”
Benjamin smiled. “That makes me very happy, Mr. Dan. I’m really getting to love your slaves. They are fine people.”
They rode into Charleston, completed their errands, and headed back toward the plantation. After trotting the horses for a while, they slowed to a walk.
Dan spoke up. “You’ve been in church services for two Sundays now. What do you think about what you’ve been hearing?”
“Mr. Dan, Preacher Zebulun is such a loving man. His sermons are very heart touching. He certainly has a deep love for people and a powerful love for Jesus Christ. But there is so much I do not understand yet.”
“That’s to be expected. It is all so new to you. When a person has been raised without ever hearing the Bible preached and the gospel made plain, it takes time. In the Bible, God likens it to sowing seed, watering it, and finally reaping the harvest. You will keep attending the services, won’t you?”
“Oh yes, sir. I will do that.”
“And you’ve been thinking on what I told you before?”
“I sure have. I am glad that God loves me. And I am glad He wants me to come to know Him through His Son.”
“Good. Have you come to understand about heaven and hell, and that every human being goes to one of those two places when they die?”
“Yes. That place called hell sounds awful. Preacher Zebulun preached about it last Sunday morning. I am having a hard time believing that when Jesus died on that cross, He did it for me.”
Dan took a few minutes to elaborate on the Lord’s death at Calvary but found that the light of the gospel still had not broken through Benjamin’s darkness. He told him the gospel story from another angle, and it seemed to help, but he could see that Benjamin needed more time.
In the days that followed, whenever they were alone together, Dan lovingly and tactfully witnessed to Benjamin about Jesus Christ and Benjamin’s need of salvation. Each time, Benjamin showed more interest and seemed to grasp it better.
Dan kept his family abreast of his progress with Benjamin, and at family altar time they prayed earnestly for Benjamin to be saved.
THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY, DAN AND BENJAMIN were fishing together at Dan’s favorite spot. He went over the gospel again, pointing out to Benjamin that when Jesus died on the cross, He was dying for Benjamin personally.
“Mr. Dan, it is not that I do not believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for all sinners. I do believe that.”
“Good. Then are you ready to repent of your sin and put your trust in Jesus to save you?”
“Well, sir, I am still in the dark on something.”
“What is that?”
“I cannot quite understand how the Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary could give me salvation. Please … I am not trying to be difficult about it. Really I am not. It is just that I cannot see how it works.”
Dan nodded. “Let me think about it. I’ve got to come up with the right way to explain it to you.”
Dan prayed silently, asking the Lord for help. Suddenly it came to him.
“Tell you what, Benjamin …”
“Yes, sir?”
“I know how to make it clear to you, but we’ll need more time than we have left here at the river. I’d like to talk to you in your quarters tonight after supper. Would that be all right?”
“Certainly. I would like that.”
When Benjamin answered the knock at his door that evening, he found Dan bearing a beautifully wrapped package in one hand and his Bible in the other.
“Ready?” Dan said.
“Yes, sir. Come in.”
When Benjamin closed the door, Dan turned and extended the package. “This is for you from me.”
Benjamin took the package and said, “Am I to unwrap it right now?”
“Yes. You’re going to need it this evening.”
He broke the ribbon on the package and tore away the bright-colored paper to find a new Bible with a black leather cover. “It is beautiful, Mr. Dan. Thank you!”
“My pleasure. Let’s sit down at the table. I want to show you some things in Scripture. It will help if you have your own Bible to read as I use mine.”
They sat down at the small table, facing each other. “All right,” Dan said, “let’s read a couple of Scripture passages together. When you’ve seen them, then I’m going to tell you something that will shed light on them.”
Benjamin smiled at him. “Where do we start?”
“In the Gospel of John. Can you find it?”
“Probably, but it will be faster if you show me where it is.”
Dan took Benjamin’s Bible from him, opened it to John chapter 8, and said, “I would like to have you read a verse to me.”
Benjamin nodded as Dan opened his own Bible to the same chapter.
“Okay, Benjamin, what you are about to read came from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have already shown you that all human beings are born sinners and are held captive by sin and Satan, and that because Satan is going to spend eternity in the lake of fire, he wants company. He wants to keep you his captive and take you to hell with him. Remember?”
“Yes, sir. That is quite clear.”
“Good. Then, as a captive of sin and Satan, like all other sinners, you need to be made free, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Now read what Jesus said to me
n who were captives of sin and Satan, in verse 36.”
Benjamin dropped his eyes to the page and read, “ ‘If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’ ”
“Now, what does that say to you?”
Benjamin looked at it again. “That only God’s Son can set me free, and if He does, I am free without a doubt.”
Dan smiled. “Do you believe Him?”
“Yes. I am just not quite sure how He does it.”
“I’ll explain that to you, but first we need to go to the book of 1 Timothy.”
A quizzical look framed Benjamin’s face. “First Timothy? Is there more than one?”
“These were epistles—letters—written by the apostle Paul to one of his sons in the ministry named Timothy. He wrote two letters to Timothy—both under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Here. Let me get it for you.”
When Dan laid the open Bible before Benjamin, he said, “Keep in mind what Jesus said in John 8:36 and read me verses 5 and 6 of chapter 2.”
Benjamin found the spot and read: “ ‘For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.’ ”
“Do you know what the word ransom means, Benjamin?”
“I am not sure, Mr. Dan. I do not think I have ever heard the word.”
“Well, do you know what redemption means?”
“I believe so. I remember studying the word in my classes when the British people were teaching my parents and me English. Redemption is the sum paid to set a person free from punishment, slavery, or prison. Right?”
“Exactly. The word ransom comes from the same root word as redemption. So, when Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all, He was paying the price that God, in His holiness, righteousness, and justice demanded for setting a sinner free from slavery to sin and Satan and the punishment of spending eternity in the prison called hell. Are you following me?”
Benjamin nodded.
“All right. Benjamin, you were brought to this country by Thomas Green as a slave, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Thomas Green owned you.”
“Yes.”
“You were to be sold to the highest bidder and become that person’s slave, weren’t you?”
“I sure was. And if Finn Colvin had bought me, I would be his slave.”
Dan smiled. “That is true. Now think about it. You were the slave of Thomas Green and held in his bonds as his captive, weren’t you?”
Benjamin thought about his dash for freedom when he jumped from the ship but was caught by the police and delivered back to Thomas Green. “Most certainly.”
“But it was established on the auction block that whoever made the highest bid for you would own you when he paid the price.”
“Yes.”
“My father made the highest bid and paid that price at the cashier’s booth. Right?”
Benjamin held Dan’s gaze with his own and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“So my father owned you then, didn’t he?”
“He did.”
“But what did he do, even though he owned you?”
Suddenly Benjamin’s eyes lit up. “He set me free!”
“Exactly! And when a lost sinner comes to Jesus, realizing he is a captive of sin and Satan, and calls on Jesus to save him, He does! And because that repentant sinner opens his heart to Jesus, he then belongs to Jesus. So, just like my father paid the price for you, which made you his possession, then he set you free … so it is with Jesus. That’s why He said, ‘If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’ Do you see it?”
Benjamin smiled. “It is coming clear.”
“While you are thinking on it, let me emphasize something. Look at the verse again. Tell me what price was paid so that lost sinners could be saved and set free, Benjamin. What was the ransom?”
He studied it for a brief moment, then looked up. “Why, it was Himself, Mr. Dan. Jesus gave Himself as the price.”
“Hang on to that, Benjamin, and let me show you some other passages that will help you.”
With Dan’s help, Benjamin followed in his own Bible as Dan read several passages on redemption, showing what Jesus did for sinners when He went to the cross, shed His precious blood, and died, making it possible for them to be set free from sin, Satan, and the damnation of hell.
When Dan finished reading to him, Benjamin was weeping. “Mr. Dan,” he said, “I see it! What your father did for me when he ransomed me from earthly slavery is a picture of what Jesus wants to do for me, to ransom me from spiritual slavery!”
“That’s it,” Dan said. “Do you want to be set free from sin, Satan, and the condemnation that is in you?”
“Yes! Oh yes.”
With Dan’s guidance, in humble repentance of sin, Benjamin opened his heart to the Saviour.
After calling on the Lord to save him, Benjamin said, “Mr. Dan, when your father ransomed me at the arena, it had to have been because there was love in his heart for this poor slave. He had enough love for me that he paid a high price to set me free. It was a ransom of love.”
“I couldn’t say it any better than that, Benjamin,” Dan said.
Benjamin wiped tears from his cheeks. “And what the Lord Jesus did for me was a ransom of love. But it was a greater ransom, and a greater love.”
“Yes, Benjamin. Both were a ransom of love. But of course, the Lord’s love is the greatest, and the ransom He paid was the highest—the sacrifice of Himself.”
“Mr. Dan, last Sunday morning, when Preacher Zebulun finished his sermon and gave the invitation, one of the slave girls went forward. She had been saved during the week and wanted to tell everybody about it. This is what I should do, shouldn’t I?”
“That’s right, Benjamin. Jesus said that when we confess Him before men, He will confess us before His Father.”
“Then I will do it tomorrow morning.”
At the Colvin plantation on Monday morning, Ol’ Mose came in the back door of the mansion to start his day’s work. He was heavy of heart but did his best not to let it show.
Finn, George, and Edward had just finished breakfast and were about to leave the kitchen. They spoke to Mose, then hurried past him, telling Martha they would see her at noon.
Mose spoke to Mandy, the cook, then said to Martha, “First thing I’ll do, Miss Martha, is finish the job in the pantry that I started yesterday.”
“All right. How long do you think it will take you to finish firming up the shelves?”
“I’d say ’bout an hour, ma’am.”
Martha nodded. “All right. The next thing I need is for you to see if you can get the spots out of the carpet in George’s room.”
“More whiskey, ma’am?”
Martha bit her lip. “Yes.”
“I’ll take care of it like I did las’ time.”
“All right. Then I need you to sweep off the front porch.”
Mose’s head hung a bit lower than usual. “Yes’m.”
“When you get that done, come and see me, and I’ll decide what needs attention next.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As the morning passed, Martha observed Mose moving about the house, doing his work. She grew more and more concerned as she read his eyes and facial expressions. Something was troubling him deeply.
At noon, Ol’ Mose went to his shack to prepare his lunch, as usual. A few minutes later, Finn and his sons came into the kitchen of the mansion, sat down with Martha, and began devouring the food prepared by Mandy.
While they were eating, Martha said, “So, did my men get all their work done this morning?”
“Sure did, Mom,” Edward said. “I don’t know what Pa’s gonna do this afternoon, but George and I are gonna ride our horses out to the back side of the plantation and have us a good race. We haven’t raced for over a week.”
“As for me,” said Finn, “I’ve got to go into town and do som
e business at the bank.”
When the men had left the kitchen, Martha said to the cook, “Mandy, you’d better put some extra fixin’s in the stew for supper. One thing’s for sure … when George and Edward ride their horses, they always come in for supper extra hungry.”
“I will make sho’ they have plenty, Miz Colvin.”
While George and Edward were changing into their riding clothes, Finn had one of the male slaves hitch his buggy up to one of the buggy horses, then headed for Charleston.
The Colvin brothers stopped by the sewing room to tell their mother they would see her at suppertime, then went to the barn where their saddle horses were kept.
While they were happily saddling and bridling the horses, Edward snickered and said, “I hate to tell you this, big brother, but I’m gonna beat you in every race today. You haven’t got a chance.”
“Hah!” George retorted. “You’re the one who hasn’t got a chance! By the time this day is over, you’ll have to go home like a whipped dog with your tail tucked in!”
The Colvin brothers continued to banter as they mounted up and trotted their horses past the buildings and across the fields toward the back side of the estate.
Shortly thereafter, Ol’ Mose returned to the mansion and took up the tasks assigned to him by Martha.
It was just after two o’clock when Mose carried a bucket of hot soapy water, a brush, and rags onto the back porch and began washing windows. A few minutes later, Martha came out the back door and said, “Mose, I need your help inside the house for a few minutes.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He laid down the brush and shuffled toward her. “What can I do for you?”
“I need you to move some light things from one place to another in the parlor. Lamps, vases, and that kind of thing. I’ll show you.”
Mose shuffled beside her as they entered the mansion and headed toward the front.
Martha gave him a sidelong glance. He still looked as if he were carrying the weight of the world on his ancient, stooped shoulders.
By the time they entered the parlor, Martha could no longer hold back. “Mose, before I show you what I want done in here, I need to ask you something.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
