Charles Dickens’ father ran up debts and was imprisoned in London’s notorious debtor’s prison, the Marshalsea. The horror of that experience was so great that he later wrote that his “whole nature was so penetrated with grief and humiliation” and that often “he would wander desolately back to that time.” He incorporates this into his 1855-1857 novel Little Dorrit.


The spectres of past sins can haunt us all and leave us unable to forgive ourselves. We know in our minds that we have been forgiven through the cross of Christ, yet our hearts seem unconvinced. We can scarcely take in that our debts are paid. “The wounds of Christ are His glories, they are His jewels, they are the trophies of His love,” Charles Spurgeon said. Jesus showed His wounds to His disciples to prove that He was really the Christ. With those wounds He paid the debt for our sins
(see Romans 5:1).


Let’s behold that not only do His hands bear the physical proof of our debt paid, but also His hands are inscribed with your name and mine.