Paid in FULL!!

Paid in FULL!! I cannot wait to hear those words from Sallie Mae some day!! There is going to be a nice little celebration happening in our home when that day comes!!

As I was sitting at a Women of Faith conference this weekend, I was struck with the thought that the greatest debt in my life has already been paid...free of charge to me. I was taken back for a moment as I realized, even though I am striving so hard to be debt free here on earth, my greatest debt is already taken care of.

I didn't have to coupon to pay that debt; I didn't have to save to pay that debt; I didn't have to stockpile to pay that debt; I didn't have to work at all to pay that debt. That debt, the debt of my sin, was taken care of once and for all at the cross where Christ Jesus died for me so that I could have a debt free life with Him forever. All I had to do? Accept the FREE gift of salvation!!

Our debt free journey is not just for the sake of being debt free, although that is a huge piece of it. Our journey to being debt free is so that some day, we can give and give and GIVE! Our prayer is that we can be financially debt free so that we have the freedom to tell others about how to become spiritually debt free!

When sin entered this world in the garden with Adam and Eve, all of the rest of humanity would carry that same burden of being indebted to sin. Kind of like dealing with the national debt crisis even though we may not have contributed to it, right?! Just like I am sure the leaders of this nation never tried to get us into debt intentionally, God never intended for sin to reign. But, God, in His love for us gave us choices. Choices of whether to be obedient to Him or obedient to self...and Adam and Eve chose obedience to self. And just like every choice in life has consequences, so did theirs- the debt of sin on humanity forever.  How many times have our financial choices had consequences that eventually left us in financial debt?

But, God, in His love for us, had a PLAN. A PLAN to get us out of the debt of sin in our lives. His plan? To send His Son, Jesus Christ as an offering. a payment. for the consequences of our choice. The coolest part of this plan is that it is free to me!! Because I will never be perfect, never be good enough to please God, there is nothing I can do to pay the debt of sin on my own. BUT, because Jesus was the Son of God, He could pay for that debt of sin. My job? To accept the fact that I am in debt to sin and to choose to follow Jesus Christ and His word and receive the FREE gift of salvation from that debt of sin!!

OH. MY. GOODNESS!! What if someone showed up at your door today and handed you a check for the exact amount of your debt? Would you say, "No thanks, I don't need that. I can do it on my own."? Or would you take it with tears in your eyes and humbly say, "Thank you."? You would be stupid not to take that check!! If you wouldn't take it, I sure would!!

Jesus has a check with your name on it that says, "PAID IN FULL". Will you accept that check humbly and receive the free gift of salvation from the debt of sin? Or, will you walk away and choose not to accept a gift that could change your life forever?

I am thankful my check says, "Paid in FULL." Being spiritually freed from the debt of sin is far more freeing than the day when I will be financially free from debt. Being spiritually debt free makes me the richest girl alive. And you can be too!