In Debt...

Yes, that's what I said. I'm in debt. And so are you. And the debt is too great to be paid back. That's kinda scary, isn't it?  Have you ever owed something to someone? Maybe not even money, but you had something huge hanging over your head, and someone showed you a great kindness at work, or at school, at home, maybe a friend helped you out of a very bad predicament. Maybe someone donated an organ so that your life could be saved. Have you been able to think of a situation like this from your life? It's overwhelming. You are indebted to that person, because they gave so much for you, and you probably didn't even deserve it.

I had a fresh reminder this week of my indebtedness. It begins with a meek, single man who had a group of close friends that he always spent time with. He cared about these friends a lot. And one night, right before a holiday in his country, he was having a special dinner with these friends to celebrate. Before the dinner, one of his close friends had met with this man's enemies and promised to do one of the ugliest deeds that ever could be part of a friendship. He was going to turn over his friend to these enemies. And his friend knew about this meeting. So when they were at dinner, everyone was enjoying the time together, and this meek man kindly shared his food with his friend, even though he knew that friend was going to meet up with his enemies that night to bring them to one of this man's favorite hiding spots to capture him - which they did.

But it's not over yet, because after capturing this man, all of his friends escaped and left him alone to endure whatever suffering these enemies had in mind. And they made him suffer a lot. They spit on him, hit him, pulled his hair, smacked him, and whipped him. After a lot more, they finally killed him. And he let them kill him instead of me.

So if this man died, why do I owe him anything? A dead person can't collect debts. Well that's just it. He's not dead. He's actually alive right now. And you think I'm crazy right now, but I promise you that I'm not. This man's name is Jesus, and He beat death. He stayed dead for three days, and then he came alive again. Because this man is also God. And He went through all of those beatings/betrayals for me. He did this for ME. He held His peace for my sake. He died for me. And because He lives again, I can be forgiven of the debt I owe to God for all of my sins. What's more, He did this for YOU TOO!  I've accepted His offer of forgiveness - all He required is for me to believe that He died and rose again for me to be freed from my sins. But have YOU accepted His offer to you? He's holding out His hands to you, and all you need to do is receive it. If you haven't, will you do it today?