"A Free Gift"
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
A few years ago, I was heading to pick up my older sister from the airport. She was flying in from Florida. I was running early for once, so I decided to run through the nearest drive-through to grab a hot cocoa. Maybe that would help pass the time. As I pulled up to the pay window, I realized I didn’t have a dime on me. Nothing. Nada. “I’m so embarrassed, but I must have left my purse at home,” I told the lady at the window. Her blank stare turned into a big smile. She must have noticed my heart pounding out of my chest. “Don’t you worry about a thing. This one is on me!” She said with a slight wink. To be honest, I don’t remember much after that. I do remember how I cried the rest of the way to the airport thinking about what God has given us.
The cocoa came at a price just like my personal salvation. In a world where strings are always attached, important details are written in fine print, and wages are measured to the penny - there isn’t much in life that’s truly free. You probably see where I’m going with this, but just in case… This is the gospel! Jesus freely gave His perfect, sinless, beautiful, and fruitful life for us. Our heart should pound when we think of our sinful, selfish tendencies, and our tears should flow when we think about the sacrificial love of Jesus that is so freely given for us. We deserve death because of our sin, but when we accept Jesus into our hearts, we receive eternal life. Can you think of a better gift?
Prayer: Dear God, Thank you for the free gift of salvation through Jesus. Thank you that we don’t have to earn our way to eternity with you. Help us to live into that gift this season. Help us to shine your light and live into your peace in this crazy and costly world. Give us generous hearts that we might gain a godly perspective in our earthly circumstances. Thank you also for this church family. Grow our hearts, grow our effectiveness, grow our numbers if it be your will. For your kingdom. To you be all the glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Amy Happ, Center Point UMC Laity
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