I felt like I was really playing big time. We were on vacation, and I was playing baseball with a great group of players. We were using a professional-style hardball instead of the softball we usually played with.
At first the hardball stung my hand pretty badly every time I caught it. But after a while I got used to it, and it felt almost good every time it smacked into my glove. Sin is like that too. It takes a while to adjust to the sting of your conscience - especially when you know you’re doing wrong. But when you get used to it, it even seems like fun sometimes.
Playing hardball was fun! . . . that is, until the ball whacked me hard on the nose. I was in the outfield, and the ball was coming down through branches of trees that grew along the back of the field. I looked up for the ball, determined to make the catch and get that batter out. But the tree leaves hid the ball until it was too late . . . and then I was sitting on the ground with a broken nose and blood everywhere.
Off we went to the hospital. The emergency room doctor did a good job. It only took four stitches, and the break healed up well and quickly too.
A few days after we were back home, I received a letter from the hospital telling me that they had two different programs to help me pay my hospital bill. They advised me to call them and look into the matter.
The hospital lady who answered the phone asked a few questions: “Do you live at home? Do you have a job? How much do you earn?” Then she studied the programs’ rules and said, “I’m sorry, but you don’t qualify for either of these programs. You’ll have to pay the full amount.”
“How much do I owe?” I asked.
The amount the lady told me really stunned me! I knew there would be something to pay, but I could NEVER pay the amount she told me! It was huge!
You and I don’t really know how awful sin is to God. Every careless word we speak, every bad thought we think, every wrong thing we do - all those sins have to be paid for. How are any of us going to pay what we owe to God for every sin we’ve ever committed?
And how was I going to pay that hospital bill? I called the lady back to talk over my difficulty.
“Oh, I’m glad you called,” she said. “Someone was just in my office and offered to pay your hospital bill. Do you know this person?” and she told me who it was.
“Yes, I know him!” I almost shouted into the telephone.
“Will it be okay to accept this payment?” asked the lady.
“Yes, it certainly will be okay!” I answered happily.
I can’t tell you what relief and joy and thankfulness filled my heart and mind as I hung up that phone. My hospital debt was gone! Totally gone!
Have you talked to the One who is willing to pay your debt of sins? On Calvary’s cross the Lord Jesus Christ paid the debt in full for all the sins of every person who would receive Him as their Saviour. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)).
What if I had said “no” to that lady at the hospital? How very foolish I would have been not to accept the kind offer to pay my hospital bill. I knew I couldn’t pay it, and I would have had that unpaid hospital bill on my conscience for a very, very long time.
I wonder if you have said “no” to the Lord Jesus for His kind offer to pay the debt of your sins? If “no” is your answer, you will have to pay that terrible debt of your sins for all eternity. How much better it is to accept His loving offer to pay it for you. Will you say “yes” to Him and have your sins gone forever? You will know the relief and joy and thankfulness in your heart for all eternity. “Our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity [sin]” (Titus 2:13-1413Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:13‑14)).
ML-06/18/2006