Romans 6:23 Receive Your Gift
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NIV).
It doesn’t snow often in Tucson, but it snows on the surrounding mountains often enough that we get to see the line between snow and no snow on the mountains fairly frequently. I once was hiking up a trail with the snow line close enough that I could see it, but it moved up the mountain as fast or faster than I could climb. I never quite reached it. A first glance of the snow line shows a rather sharp demarcation between snow and no snow, but as we look closer, we notice that there are indentations and sharp cornices where the line is not quite straight. It’s possible to be standing at a height below the snow line, but still see snow below because of an indentation. Satan would love to convince us that the “sin line” is like that, a little wavy, not consistent. He’s wrong. There is no thing such as “almost a sin,” and “just a little bit of sin.” God has set a definite line between sin and truth, and “the wages of sin is death” whether the sin is a “little sin” or a “great big sin.” There is no wiggle room when it comes to sin. Don’t fall for satan’s lie—sin is sin and there is only one punishment for sin—death. “I guess I’m doomed then.” NO, I AM NOT DOOMED! Jesus accepted the punishment for all my sins, every one of them, past, present, and future. Jesus has accepted the wages for my sin and for your sin, and for your neighbors’ sin, and for the sin of Johann Gonzales in Seville, Spain. But in order to receive this gift of sin forgiveness we need to ask Jesus for it and then accept it. Have you ever refused a Christmas gift? I doubt that you have. Well, don’t refuse this gift. It is the best one you will ever receive. It’s the gift of eternal life. Once you accept it, it is as if you had never sinned, from the “little” sins to the “great big ones.” Jesus makes you pure and clean, and nobody else can do that. Here’s hoping that you receive Jesus’ gift of sin forgiveness. If you do, I’ll get to meet you some day in heaven. I’m looking forward to that.