By David A. Sargent
Author James Herriot tells of an
unforgettable wedding anniversary he and his wife celebrated
early in their marriage. His boss had encouraged him
to take his wife to a fancy restaurant, but Herriot
balked. He was a young veterinarian and couldn’t
really afford it. “Oh, do it!” the boss
insisted. Herriot reluctantly agreed and surprised his
wife with the news.
En route to the restaurant, Herriot and
his wife stopped at a farm to examine a farmer’s
horse. Having finished the routine exam, he returned
to his car and drove to the restaurant, unaware that his
checkbook had fallen in the mud. After a wonderful
meal, Herriot reached for his checkbook and discovered it
was gone. Quite embarrassed, he tried to offer a way
of making it up.
“Not to worry,” the waiter replied.
“Your dinner has been taken care of!”
As it was, Herriot’s employer had paid
for the dinner in advance. *
God has done the same for us. Jesus’
utterance on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), is a
Greek term meaning “paid in full.” On the cross, Jesus
paid for the debt of our sins and He paid the debt “in
full.”
In Today’s Walk in the Word (7/22/21),
Joe Barnett stated this sublime truth succinctly:
Jesus paid our sin debt.
We owed it but couldn’t pay it.
He didn’t owe it but paid it.
The debt is no longer owed —
It has been paid in full.
We could get by on nothing less.
We need nothing more.
We rely on nothing else.
“Hopelessly in debt” is now past tense. **
All we have to do is accept God’s offer
of forgiveness and eternal life on His terms. God will
cancel the debt of sin and give eternal life to those who
place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn
from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus
before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed)
into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to
walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
Your debt has been paid if only you will
accept God’s offer on His terms.
Won’t YOU?
- David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at
Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an
electronic devotional entitled "Living Water." To learn more about this
excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org
* As qtd. by Darryl Dash, www.dashhouse.com.
** “Paid in Full.” Today’s Walk in the Word
(7/22/2021) by Joe Barnett, Pathway Evangelism,
www.pathwayco.com.
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