God's Gift: Paid in Full, Alexis A. Goring

God’s Gift: Paid in Full

A devotional by Alexis A. Goring

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23 (KJV)

“Jesus Paid It All” by Kristian Stanfill is a beautiful song that has been playing on repeat in my head all week!

As Christmas Day approached, I was reminded not just about the birth of Jesus Christ but of His sacrifice that saved our souls! Read about it in John 3:16-17 then read the entire Bible for complete context.

For the purposes of this devotional, I am going to focus on one key concept based on the title and lyrics to the song “Jesus Paid It All.”

As the song says (and I paraphrase): Jesus paid it all! Yes, the wages of sin is death but Jesus Christ (God’s Son) made a way for us to be saved and receive eternal life! We only have to accept God’s gift of salvation through His Son Jesus, believe in God and follow Jesus all the way to Heaven.

Earlier this month, I didn’t know how I was going to pay my overdue cell phone bill. Other bills took priority, including two unexpected expenses.

I called my phone service and asked if they could extend the overdue payment deadline. They said that the latest they could extend it to was Friday, December 20. But by Wednesday (two days before it was due), I still didn’t have the money that I needed to pay my phone bill. So I decided to pray to God about it and let it go, knowing that God would provide.

Later on that day, while I was in the kitchen washing the dishes, I heard my cell phone make the sound that let me know I had received a text message.

I walked over to the kitchen table and picked up my phone. The message read that my overdue cell phone bill was paid in full!

The receipt showed the last four digits of the card number that was used to pay my bill. I was happy but confused at the same time because the card number was not one of my own and I couldn’t think of anyone who had the information necessary to pay my bill for me. After all, I’d only told my dad a day before that it looked like my cell phone would be out of service until I figured out how to pay the overdue amount.

Five minutes later, my dad returned home, presented a receipt to me and said “Merry Christmas!”

I accepted the receipt and received my answer: The receipt showed the same last four digits of the card number that was in the text message on my phone. The overdue amount was highlighted and noted that it was paid in full. My dad had paid my debt!

I told him “Thanks, Dad!” then asked him why he’d given me this gift. He said that God led him to do that for me. I knew that was true because that’s never happened before, and I never wanted to ask him for money to pay my phone bill because my parents (Mom and Dad) already do so much for me.

But this week, the song “Jesus Paid It All” has been playing on repeat in my mind and now I know why: God wants to remind me that He has already paid the debt for my sins when He sent His Son Jesus Christ to this Earth to show humankind the way to our Heavenly Father (John 14:6). God allowed Jesus to live, die then be resurrected to serve as our High Priest in Heaven.

We are all sinners who can only be saved by God’s grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) in Jesus (our Savior). We ALL need a Savior! Gratefully, God knew that information from the beginning, so He made a way – His Name is Jesus (Christ).

If it were not for Christ’s sacrifice and God’s Love for us, we’d be doomed. We’d never make it to Heaven. We’d never be reunited with our Creator and we’d never experience the joys of what’s to come (eternal life forever in the presence of our Savior as we enjoy a truly perfect, sin-free, pain-free, death-free existence). The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9 (ESV): But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

God has great things planned for all who believe in Him and accept His Son Jesus Christ as The Way, The Truth and The Life (John 14:6)!

Just like my Heavenly Father (God) inspired my earthly father (my Dad) to pay my cell phone bill in full so that weight would be lifted off of me and I could be free from having to pay that debt that I could not afford, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to save our life by paying a debt that none of us (no matter how wealthy or determined or perfect) could pay (because we’re all sinners in need of a Savior). All you and I have to do is to accept God’s gift to us that He paid in full.

We can say “Thank You” to our Heavenly Father for this generous gift, then accept His Son Jesus Christ into our hearts and follow Him all the way to Heaven!

Isn’t it beautiful when you receive a gift that has been paid in full?

Author Bio (short): Alexis A. Goring is a passionate writer with a degree in Print Journalism and an MFA in Creative Writing. She loves the art of storytelling and hopes that her stories will connect readers with the enduring, forever love of Jesus Christ.

This is our final Faithful Friday post of the year. Thank you so much, Alexis, for being so faithful in providing such wonderful, thought-provoking posts throughout the year.

Matter of fact, this is the last Whispers in Purple blog post of 2019. Many thanks to all who have followed this blog not only this year, but in years past.

In the remaining days before we ring in the New Year, I'll be doing some redesigning of the blog theme and some other stuff. I hope you will find them an improvement. 

BLESSINGS, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!