Take a moment to read Romans 5:1-11 before reading the devotional below.
If you went to a restaurant and at the end of your meal the waiter told you someone had already paid your bill, you would probably feel surprised and confused. Who did this? Is it really okay for us to just leave? You’d probably leave an extra big tip, feeling a little insecure about getting a free meal. But if you considered it a blessing from God, you would probably celebrate and thank him for the unexpected gift. That is a little bit like our salvation through Jesus. He’s paid? Really? I don’t have to settle up with God myself? Maybe I can do a few good things to make sure I’m really all set…
If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you know that acceptance of salvation is only the beginning. Jesus never promises us a stress-free life after that. In fact, the spiritual journey is one of continual growth and patient endurance. But all the hardship and suffering will be worth your while in the end. God is storing up blessings for you for all of eternity.
Here’s your freedom for today: God wants to bless you even when you are messing up. Sometimes we imagine that God is up there silently disapproving and disappointed when we sin or go astray. When we do the right thing, we imagine that he is happy and will “reward” us for good behavior. All of these ideas are a result of behaviorism and reward-based parenting styles. When you read the Bible, you find that God just really likes to bless you and he’s not waiting for you to get it right. These verses tells us that anybody would be willing to die for a good person, but only God is so loving that he died for us while we were his enemies. Now, because of Jesus, we can be friends of God. Just pause on that today. Friends. God considers you a friend because he makes impossible things possible.