An Advance

By David A. Sargent       Andy Cook has written about something that may not be widely known about golfer Harvey Penick.     Millions of golfers know the name of Harvey Penick. His first book, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book, became a surprising best-seller, selling more than 1 million copies in 1992, quickly earning the title of the best-selling sports book of all time.     But by the time Penick even showed his notes – the genesis for his book – to a local writer, he was nearly 90 years old. Penick wanted to know if the book was worth publishing. The writer read it and told him he liked the book. In fact, by the next evening, the same man left word with Penick’s wife that Simon & Schuster had agreed to an advance of $90,000.     When the writer saw Penick later, the old man seemed troubled. Finally, Penick came clean. With all his medical bills, he said, there was no way he could advance Simon & Schuster that much money. It took a while, but finally the writer convinced Penick that the publisher would pay him the $90,000 . . . not the other way around!     Andy Cook makes this application: What a joy to realize that instead of needing to pay God an insurmountable bill for sins already committed, God has decided to give us the priceless gift of grace – our sins are already paid for, in full. *     It’s true.  Our sins cause us to be indebted to God with “an insurmountable bill” that we could never pay with our own resources.     So God paid our debt for us.  He gave His one and only Son Jesus to die for our sins on the cross to pay the price for our redemption (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7).     “He [Jesus] is the propitiation [atoning sacrifice] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2 ESV).     Our debt of sin has been paid, in full, by Jesus.  However, we must accept His payment for our sins through our trusting obedience.     God will save from 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).   “He paid a debt He did not owe I owe a debt I could not pay I needed someone to wash my sins away And now I sing a brand new song ‘Amazing Grace’ all day long Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.” -- Author Unknown       Your debt has been paid.  Enjoy the benefits of the salvation and life that Jesus has made possible, by accepting His offer on His terms.

- 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 Source: By Andy Cook, citing Leadership Journal, Fall 1995, as shared in illustrations on “grace,” www.thepastorsworkshop.com.