1-5-2019

 Good Morning All,

Colossians 2:14; “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” 

    With two storms back to back, we ran out of things to watch on television.  I even broke down and watched a political talk show.  They were arguing about the national debt. 

    One thing they do is show that electronic readout that shows the national debt as it goes up and up, hour by hour.  That last couples of dollars and the cents are just a blur.  Of course, the guy standing in front of it, with all due sense of importance and self-appointed air of paternalistic intonation of voice, warns us that we will be the next Greece or Spain or some other country to go broke.  He is wringing his hands and you can see the consternation on his face.  I worry about that guy; he is so concerned about that number behind him sailing into the stratosphere.  Someone should go and help him feel better and unplug his sign so the debt would be erased.

    Just think if it were that easy, when you go to the bank and ask how much you owe; just unplug the machine and it will show nothing; problem solved.  If you go to the credit card site; pull up your account and then unplug the monitor and poof no more debt.  When the bill comes in the mail just take a little whiteout and problem solved.  The debt is erased.

    Wouldn’t you like to have your debt erased?  I think everyone would say yes; some quicker than others.  Having no debt would free you from all those burdens that weigh us down when we have debt.  Maybe you work a second job to pay your debt.  Maybe you work overtime.  Maybe you stay home because you can’t afford to go out.  There are lots of ways we could enjoy not having any debt.

     This is exactly what God has done for us through Jesus and it threw the devil for a loop.  The devil thought he had us right where he wanted us.  The devil knew that God would demand payment for the debt of sin that we owed.  The devil used this to torment us and to attack us and assail us.  The devil had all he needed to make our lives miserable.  We had a legal debt to pay to a judge who would demand payment and we had no way to pay.

    The devil wasn’t planning on God paying the debt for us.  “This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”  Our debt of sins was nailed to the cross and through that we have righteousness.  We experienced what we call “the great exchange.”   We traded with Jesus.  He took our sins and we took his righteousness.  Our debt is cancelled because Jesus paid it once and for all.  That debt is nailed to a tree and we can have the last laugh at the devil.  He lost and we won.  God had given us the victory.

Dear Father in Heaven, we give you thanks for the wondrous gift of cancelled debt!  We owe more than we can ever pay yet you gladly laid the cost on Jesus to secure for us eternal life.  Fill our hearts with joy and thanksgiving for this tremendous gift.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret