October 28 2011

He Did It
 
Reading: Ephesians 2:8-9, 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. [NASB]

Most who are reading this already know that you cannot do anything to earn your salvation. You cannot do enough works to attain it, to earn the right to spend eternity with God. It is only by the grace of God through the faith that we have in Him and the work of His Son on the cross. You may already know that but, often, we only know that for salvation. The realization of this fact does not seem to carry over into our daily lives. Let’s just say that you owed a massive amount in debts, an amount that you could never, ever repay and that the company to whom most of the money was owed has a close affiliation with the “mob”. One day the mob hit man shows up at your door and forces his way in. He holds you and your son at gunpoint. Your neighbor shows up at your door and sees through the window what is happening… he lets himself into the house with his son by his side… and he tells the hit man that he and his son have talked and they would like to have his son take your place. Since someone was going to have to pay for the debt with their life, his son would be willing to take their place. Afterwards, every day for the rest of your life… how would you feel? How would you associate with that neighbor? We know that we are saved by God’s grace alone but, afterward, we tend to act like we did a really good job earning it ourselves. If the hit man scenario actually happened, not a day would go by without a feeling of indebtedness and a sense of “please tell me what I could do to ever repay you for the sacrifice that you gave”. That is why Paul said that it is simply “your reasonable service” to be a “living sacrifice”. It’s not a stretch, not extraordinary… it’s just reasonable.

Are you living your life to demonstrate a sense of indebtedness to God and His Son for such a great salvation and sacrifice?

How can you do that today?





 

End of the Day Review
  
How were you able to live in a sense of indebtedness today?
 
 
How did that seem to impact your day and your perception of your great salvation?