Earned vs. Given
READ: Romans 6:19-23
Do you have a job? In 2007 the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over 7 MILLION teens ages 16-19 were employed (that's over 40% of all teens ages 16-19 in the U.S.). If you added in those ages 13-15 to cover all teenage years, the numbers would be even higher. Those 7,000,000+ teens (and you may be one of them) work to earn money, build a resume, gain experience, and put their God-given talents to work. That's what your employer expects of you, and in return, you expect to get paid.
In a sense, God is our employer. As an employer creates a job, God creates our life. And we earn the wages that our life deserves. Sadly, we live lives that are sinful, and so the wage we earn is death. Oh, we may try hard, we may give it our best, but when the standard is perfection, we ALL fall short. And so, we all earn death. God says, "For the wages of sin is death..."
But God knows what were are, and that we are not capable of perfection. So God bestows on us, despite what we have earned of ourselves, a gift. Through the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we are given eternal life by faith. God continues, "...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." What wonderful truth! God in his love chooses to give us what he yearns to give us, not what we have earned.
As recipients of this precious gift, we become slaves to God. We serve him in righteousness, not because anything we do saves us, but because we are thankful that we have been saved. The next time you receive a paycheck, remember that this, too, is a gift of God. And then recall the greatest gift ever given - full and free forgiveness, completely undeserved, lovingly provided by our God who "wants all men to be saved, and come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4)
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: How important is the gift of forgiveness? What should you do with this gift?
THINGS TO PRAY ABOUT: Thank God for his amazing love that gives us undeserved forgiveness. Pray that all those who do not yet know of this precious gift will have opportunity to hear the wonderful news of Jesus' love!