Saturday, November 29, 2008

Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (New Living Trans.)

Once again it’s the season of giving. Only this year, giving is a little harder for most families because of the sluggish economy. That’s why my daughter-in-law insisted on shopping on Black Friday this year. She wanted to take advantage of any sales, so that she would be able to give to her family at Christmas this year.

But the reason why we have this season of giving is because God, first, gave His Son for us that we might live eternally in Heaven with Him. The apostle Paul in our verse for this week says we have a choice to make. We can either choose to serve sin with its temporary pleasures and earn eternal death or choose to serve God by accepting the gift of His Son and then receiving the reward of eternal life in Heaven. Notice, the reward of Heaven is a gift; we cannot earn our way into life eternal.

Part of the commentary for this verse in my New Living Translation Bible has this to say: “Consider the foolishness of someone who receives a gift given out of love and then offers to pay for it. A gift cannot be purchased by the recipient. A more appropriate response to a loved one who offers a gift is graceful acceptance with gratitude. Our salvation is a gift of God, not something of our own doing (Eph. 2:8, 9). He saved us because of his mercy, not because of any good things that we have done (Titus 3:5). How much more we should accept with thanksgiving the gift that God has freely given to us.”

At this time of giving and thanksgiving, choose to serve God and accept His free gift of salvation. We don’t have to worry about paying for it, but we certainly should show our gratitude to Him for this most expensive of all gifts ever given. Let’s be thankful for the gift of God’s Son who sets us free from sin and gives us eternal life in Heaven.