Jesus Paid It All

Happy Resurrection Day!!!!  I hope you are celebrating our Risen Savior with you family and friends because He deserves all honor and praise and glory. 

This advent season has been different.  I can’t completely explain it, but it’s different.  Maybe it’s the fact that COVID has been a thing for over a year.  Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been somewhat physically isolated from people for the past year.  Maybe it’s because I’ve made a conscience effort to be closer to the Lord this year.  Whatever the reason, it’s different and I’m more in touch with the sacrifice Jesus made for me and the fact that I still, after over 40 years of being saved, don’t deserve it. 

When I really sit back and think of all the ways, I still mess up every day, I am humbled and overwhelmed by His love for me.  The fact that He still calls me His own, is amazing and shocking.  I mean, I have been blessed with so much, but still I sometime find myself complaining about things that don’t matter.  I still get caught up in what’s happening to me or wanting something I definitely don’t need.  Then I think back to what Jesus suffered so I can live and not worry about what is to come, because He has already overcome the world (John 16:33). 

In other parts of the world, people are persecuted for their love for Christ.  And I mean persecuted, not just having a hard day.  Many around the world are imprisoned or even killed for proclaiming the name of Jesus.  When I think of these brothers and sisters, I’m ashamed of some of the things that appear to be important to me.  Many of them are not…they are just things or activities I enjoy, but none of them compare to the sufferings of others.  This year has helped me see that more clearly. 

I’ve been thinking about how we were lost to God, due to our own actions.  We (in the form of Adam and Eve) gave Him up…to have some fruit.  When you say it out loud, it sounds crazy.  But Jesus came that the lost could be found through Him.  He gave His very life so that we could have life and it more abundantly (John 10:10).  We owe Him everything and yet we grumble when He asks us for something that is inconvenient or not consistent with our plans for ourselves.  At the end of the day, our Love for God and for our fellow man are what count….it is all about our heart.  If we love God, we trust Him and have faith He will do exactly what He said.  If we love God, we will keep His instructions (John 14:15).

Jesus paid it all, but we have a price to pay as well – our obedience.  Are you willing to pay the price?  I am.