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Imagine an extravagant restaurant meticulously decorated overlooking an incredible indigo ocean at sunset. You can hear the waves crashing on the shore from your perfectly appointed table and soft music plays as the waiter welcomes you and tells you about the evening specials. It is wonderful, but all you can think about is the cost, it is out of your budget, you should not have come, you are unworthy of this expense, this experience.
As you open the leather-bound menu those thoughts of cost and worth swirl in your head as you gulp water and look at prices. Doubt grows as you glance around the room at the other customers and feel vastly underdressed and out of place. You order not the thing you want, but the thing you feel worthy of eating, something small, lower-priced but as you chew you see the table next to you dining with joy, heartfelt laughter, and radiant smiles. It is hard not to feel less than and regret coming, you can no longer hear the waves or the music you are focused on chewing and thinking about the cost of this evening.
As the bill is placed on your table you prepare to suffer the consequences of this evening, it has been the focus of your night and now the moment has come. You take a deep sigh and open the bill. This entire night has been a huge mistake, you never should have come.
Inside is a note that says, your debt was paid long ago by our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:1 NKJV
Now you reflect on the evening, would you have behaved differently if you knew the debt was already paid by Jesus? You think about the table next to that was dining with joy, heartfelt laughter, and radiant smiles. They were worshiping! They knew what many of us so often forget. The debt was already paid long before you were born by Jesus on the Cross. He set us free, and we must live in the shelter of His righteousness. It is not about us, our worth, our past, our regrets it is about calling out to God, opening that dialogue, asking for forgiveness, and accepting the freedom we receive through Christ.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 NKJV
Heavenly Father, thank you for the freedom I have through you! I will never be worthy of the sacrifice, but I humbly welcome your love and grace through faith. Jesus, you paid my debt and set me free, I will serve you all my days with bold faith and deep love. Thank you, Lord! -Amen
May the words that flow from me Lord be filled with Your message and when I am obedient may they be backed by the Holy Spirit. When I serve righteously let none of the words, I utter in praise of You fall to the ground. Help me to craft every word, may they pierce hearts and refresh weary souls. This gift is Yours; God I simply aim to use it for your glory.
–Love Cortney