I was driving home and noticed that my car was just about out of gas, so I stopped at a gas station to fill up. When my tank was full, I went inside to pay. Since there was already another customer at the counter, I stepped into line behind him.
Next to the counter stood a young boy. He couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. He looked up at the man paying for his gas and asked, “Mister, do you make big bucks?”
I was really surprised to hear such a question coming from a young boy. Do you know what he meant by “big bucks”? He was asking the man whether he earned a lot of money at his job.
The man had just been talking to the cashier about having to get back into the fields that evening to do some more planting, so it was obvious that he was a farmer. He smiled at the boy and answered, “Sonny, don’t go into farming if you want to make big bucks!” Then he turned and walked out.
Now it was my turn to pay for my gas. Guess what? The boy looked up at me and asked, “Mister, do you make big bucks?”
I too smiled at him and said, “No, I don’t make big bucks either. But do you know what? I’m rich! I have something that is worth more than all the money in the world.”
Was he ever confused! He couldn’t imagine how someone could not earn lots of money and yet be rich. I didn’t have much time, because there were other customers in the store, but I quickly told him about forgiveness of sins and a home in heaven that I have simply by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
God says they’re a gift. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). You don’t pay for a gift, do you? No - a gift is free. All you have to do is reach out and take it. And then it always shows how much you appreciate the gift and the person who gave it to you when you say, “Thank you!”
Why, that’s just the way it is with salvation. It can’t be bought with money or with anything else that you might save up and try to give to God. He doesn’t want any of those things. Instead, he wants to give eternal life to every boy and girl—and grown-up too -who will come to Him. The Lord Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)).
But just because salvation is a gift and it’s free doesn’t mean that it didn’t cost someone something. This is the most expensive gift that there ever was, but its price can’t be measured with money.
You see, this gift offers a home in heaven forever. But heaven is a perfectly pure, clean place, and God cannot let one sin into heaven, for that would make it dirty. I am a sinner. The Bible says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). So I don’t belong there, do I? How am I going to get into heaven?
The Lord Jesus knew all about my problem. He knew that there was no way that I could ever pay the punishment for just one of my sins, let alone all of them. But He wanted me to be with Him there in heaven. His love was so great that He offered to take the punishment instead of me. He -the sinless Son of God - became a man. He hung on a cross and endured every bit of awful torment and suffering that I deserved for my sins. At the end of three hours of punishment worse than I could ever imagine, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:3030When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30)), He died and His blood was shed. Then, after three days in the grave, the Lord Jesus was raised to life again, proof that God His Father was completely satisfied with the full payment that His Son had made for my sins.
Now God says, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). By putting my faith, not in myself or in anyone else, but in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, God gave me His gift of eternal life, and all the riches of heaven and the Lord Jesus are mine-forever! “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:99For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)).
Do you see why I say I am so rich? Are you rich too?
ML-09/03/2000