| “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” |
| —Romans 6:23 |
The motivational speaker intoned from the podium, with the large screen behind him showing various highly desirable items:
“You can have most anything in this life that you might want. But, you have to be willing to pay the price.”
I have thought about that statement a lot over the years. I am not someone who cares very much about the kind of car I drive, or the luxury of the house in which I might live. I’ve never cared at all about expensive clothing. I don’t wear any jewelry, so expensive watches or rings have never appealed to me. I don’t have my hair styled at an expensive salon. I don’t have any desire to own a second home, or a boat, or even a swimming pool at my house. While there is nothing particularly wrong with any of those things by themselves, they are the kinds of things that most people might want to accrue in the course of their lifetime.
There are things that I wish I could own, though. I wish I owned a radio station—and not just any radio station—but one equipped with the finest electronic equipment available. Before I moved to a Senior Living Community, I wished I had a multiple-camera security system, so I could keep watch over my property at all times. I also wished that I had a high wall with an impenetrable gate surrounding my home.
Truthfully, I will never own any of those things because I simply cannot afford to pay the price for them. People who know me will testify that I have spent a good deal of money on electronic recording equipment. I own several very expensive microphones and other digital recording equipment. I have several computers and a fairly impressive home computer network. Somehow, in spite of the fact that I am not at all wealthy, I found the money for those things.
The point I’m making is to simply validate the statement at the beginning of this blog post made in that long ago lecture by the motivational speaker:
“You can have most anything in this life that you might want. But, you have to be willing to pay the price.”
In the spiritual realm there is a well-defined price schedule, too. The Apostle Paul outlined that price schedule in Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
From the moment we were born, we inherited the sin nature of Adam passed down to us by our parents. We also began to sin on our own. By the time we reached just a few years old, we had already accumulated quite a long list of sins that can legitimately be charged against us. Those sins, and our Adamic sin nature, extract a very high price and that price is eternal separation from God.
But God, in His mercy, grace, and love, has sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place and pay the penalty for our sins. In so doing, Jesus has freed us from the bondage of sin. He has granted us eternal life through the shedding of His precious blood.
If ever there was a reason to begin this day by celebrating, the fact that we are redeemed by Jesus’ blood is just such a reason. So, let’s do just that. Let’s celebrate our salvation by being willing to share this good news with anyone whom God might prompts us share it. That will be a wonderful opportunity this very day.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, July 14, 2017
