On Saturday, June 8, 2002, a year after New Tribes missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, government commandos ambushed the terrorists, attempting to free captives. Tragically, in a two-hour exchange of gunfire, Martin Burnham was killed. Gracia, who suffered a gunshot wound in her leg, survived because her husband's lifeless body rolled over on top of her. Her captors could not tell if she was dead or alive.
Returning home to her three children in Kansas, Gracia was filled with bittersweet emotions. She was indescribably grateful for being set free, but she was somberly aware that her release had not been without a gut-wrenching cost: the death of her husband. Nonetheless, she saw his death as part of God's plan. "That is God's liking," Gracia humbly observed. "That probably was Martin's destiny."
In the same way, freedom from sin is free, but it is not cheap. It cost Jesus the cross.
