“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
As soon as I turned 15, I was eager to go out and work. The desire for independence surged. I was anxious to get behind the wheel and drive myself places, like work I argued. I wanted to work for freedom. We learn to work to receive something—most often wages. Although, often work is done not to get any monetary value. Some work for the mere experience, others freely work to promote an organization or advance a cause. Many of us moms labor at home seeking to earn strong grounding for our children.
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. If anyone could ‘brag’ about their sins…it is me. I’ve earned enough wages to throw me deep into the bottomless pit. If we are all honest, we all have a rap sheet that is shameful to even speak of. I’m ashamed of the thought of my former life before Christ. Yet I’m thankful it magnifies the grace that God demonstrated in saving the worst of sinners. Every one of us has earned wages deserving of eternal death. Sin doesn’t have to be overt. It is basically crossing the line of what God expects from us. In James chapter two, God says that in breaking one point of the law, we are guilty for breaking all of it. Unlike, our feeble human judgments or justice system; God is the perfect judge. He renders the just penalty for the treason we have committed against Him.
Working our way to eternal destruction is the path we are on, unless God, the creator of the universe, intervenes. God out of His rich love sent a Savior to die on the cross to win our souls back to His presence unashamed. Jesus took our shameful rap sheet, suffered the due penalty we had earned; and when we look to Christ, he exchanges it for His perfect righteousness and life as a free gift. In this way, God alone is worthy of all the glory! There is nothing we do to earn free gifts. On the same token, there is nothing we can do to revoke them either.
With saving faith, God also freely gives us all kinds of other gifts—spiritual gifts, friendships, marriage, children, ect. “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) In the same way that we are freely given salvation; God freely gives us all things. This is profound when thinking about the possibility of losing our salvation or any of the other gifts we enjoy. Salvation is a wonderful gift we can be assured will never be taken from us if we are found in Christ. Any gift God grants in this life, he has the right to take it away. We don’t own rights to anything given to us on earth. Nor can we ‘earn’ the right to hold on to them. They are freely given to us as gifts. Can we praise God and bask in His loving-kindness in that the greatest gift of salvation along with every other gift, is not dependent on us? Can we trust that as a loving Father, He graciously gives only the best to His children, and has eternally bestowed upon us the most precious gift in Christ?
Heavenly Father, we praise you for your unfathomable love for us when we have thoroughly transgressed your perfect law. You alone are worthy of glory and worship. You are perfectly holy and pure in light and your mercy shines into the dark crevasses of our hearts of stone. Forgive us for our the ways our wicked hearts wage war against You. Thank you for Jesus, the only Savior, who lived a perfect life atoned for our devastated one, and gifts us with new life. Fill us & our children with a fresh awe, worship, thankfulness and love for all your wonderful gifts. May we cease working in our own effort to accomplish what only the power of your Spirit can do. Work mightily in our new hearts of flesh–to be eager to respond with sincere appreciation and whole surrender for all you have done and given to us. In Jesus’ name.
Family Update: The boys are doing very well. We are all so thankful and blessed with the opportunity for me to work at home during this difficult season. The boys and I love our shared home situation. Life is settling into a new normal. Noah is doing well in school. We home school and he has made new friends with kids at church. We are plugged into a Bible study that has other kids their age. Nathan is growing in stature and wisdom–his vocabulary continues to grow. I’ve been working on the book project with some delays. I am having to wait and trust in God’s perfect timing. Please continue to lift our family up in prayer if you think of us. Blessings!
This Thorny Rose 