February 6, 2010
Ever have a debt paid for you? One you could not pay? $5 might as well be $5,000 when you don’t have the ability to cover a debt. And debt is not a merciful master. It holds its subjects captive and bound, anxious and stressed. I have been the recipient of such generosity and I will never be able to express my deep gratitude.
Have you ever had a debt forgiven? Completely cancelled out? A burden that would have shadowed you for years to come—gone in an instant. Again, this was a gift that still leaves me speechless. I attribute the unexpected and unsolicited act to Christ living in the hearts of men.
To say the experience stirs feelings of immense gratitude is an understated given. But along with the lifting of the burden and a sense of freedom comes the dissolution of the shame one feels. Deliverance somehow makes the immensity of the debt seem even larger. Say, what was once $1,000 now seems as if it were $10,000. It seems as if the debt, once paid, is that much greater. When owed, we convince ourselves we can pay it -- eventually. With enough commitment, hard work, and perseverance.
What of the debt I cannot pay? The non-fiscal debt my sin racks up? Do I fully appreciate just how large that is? These debts have been both paid in full and forgiven. Jesus didn't just use His perfect standing as holy and His position as Son to clear the debt, He paid it Himself and wiped my record clean.
I cannot -- must not -- ever forget or diminish how much it cost Jesus to pay my debt with God. The cost was enormous! A cost only He could pay. And it is paid. That, also, I must not forget. I must live free of its burden, guilt, and shame.
Honestly, I don't know that I will ever fully comprehend the sizable debt my Savior paid for me. However, I can understand it a tad better having received such gifts and acts of kindness. But they pale drastically in comparison to the grace of God in the Cross of Christ. That forgiveness is "in accordance with the riches of God's grace." A grace beyond computation.
May I make the paradigm shift from one living in debt to one that is living a life of indebtedness to her Redeemer.
Majestic God; Hallowed be Thy Name. "My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure". I am Your humble and ever-thankful bondservant, Lord; bought at a price. Ransomed only because You have deemed me worthy. Although the debt I owed was far more than I could ever pay, You have never treated me as if I were poor, for You have made me rich. As You have so graciously forgiven my debts in Christ, bring to my awareness those debtors I need forgive and the grace to cancel any debt I may hold. May it be that I honor the price paid for my life all of my days. Amen.
Have you ever had a debt forgiven? Completely cancelled out? A burden that would have shadowed you for years to come—gone in an instant. Again, this was a gift that still leaves me speechless. I attribute the unexpected and unsolicited act to Christ living in the hearts of men.
To say the experience stirs feelings of immense gratitude is an understated given. But along with the lifting of the burden and a sense of freedom comes the dissolution of the shame one feels. Deliverance somehow makes the immensity of the debt seem even larger. Say, what was once $1,000 now seems as if it were $10,000. It seems as if the debt, once paid, is that much greater. When owed, we convince ourselves we can pay it -- eventually. With enough commitment, hard work, and perseverance.
What of the debt I cannot pay? The non-fiscal debt my sin racks up? Do I fully appreciate just how large that is? These debts have been both paid in full and forgiven. Jesus didn't just use His perfect standing as holy and His position as Son to clear the debt, He paid it Himself and wiped my record clean.
I cannot -- must not -- ever forget or diminish how much it cost Jesus to pay my debt with God. The cost was enormous! A cost only He could pay. And it is paid. That, also, I must not forget. I must live free of its burden, guilt, and shame.
Honestly, I don't know that I will ever fully comprehend the sizable debt my Savior paid for me. However, I can understand it a tad better having received such gifts and acts of kindness. But they pale drastically in comparison to the grace of God in the Cross of Christ. That forgiveness is "in accordance with the riches of God's grace." A grace beyond computation.
May I make the paradigm shift from one living in debt to one that is living a life of indebtedness to her Redeemer.
Majestic God; Hallowed be Thy Name. "My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure". I am Your humble and ever-thankful bondservant, Lord; bought at a price. Ransomed only because You have deemed me worthy. Although the debt I owed was far more than I could ever pay, You have never treated me as if I were poor, for You have made me rich. As You have so graciously forgiven my debts in Christ, bring to my awareness those debtors I need forgive and the grace to cancel any debt I may hold. May it be that I honor the price paid for my life all of my days. Amen.
