Thursday, June 6, 2019

MATT Good morning! I’m Matt Farmer, Associate Pastor at Central United Methodist Church in downtown Meridian. A missionary to the people of the Philippines was trying to explain salvation to a wealthy woman, but the woman didn’t understand that she couldn’t pay for it. So, the missionary gave her this illustration: “If you wanted to give your daughter a big, beautiful mansion as a gift, how would you feel if she said, ‘Mother, you must let me help you pay for the gift. You know, I work for the mission hospital and don’t make much money, but I think I can squeeze out $8 a month.’” The missionary continued by saying: “That’s what you are saying to God. You want to help pay for what Jesus has already paid for. A home in heaven is a gift. It is an insult to try to help pay for it.” All over the world devout, well-meaning people—rich, poor, and in-between—struggle to understand that Jesus paid it all. Convinced that they have to do something to earn God’s favor, they attempt to pay for salvation as best they can. God gave His Son Jesus as a sacrifice which means the bill for our sin was paid. There is nothing left to pay. We don’t need to buy something that has already been purchased for us. We merely need to accept the gift.