God’s credit card

It’s something we’ve all done at least once––get into credit card trouble. We rack up our limit either on odds or ends, perhaps necessities, and then we wonder how in the world we’re going to pay it off. The time comes, and we finally do pay it off––perhaps we’re able to pay it off with our next tax return, or perhaps it takes years and sacrifice. But by gum we done it.

And then what do we do? Go right back to racking up more debt. “This won’t hurt, this is just a candy bar and soda with my $25 gas purchase.” Right.

Then it’s “Oh it’s only an extra couple of dollars to buy the name brand fill in the blank. I deserve to treat myself. Oh, and I haven’t had “one of those” in a long time…and I sense a Big Mac attack coming on….

You get the idea. We wipe out our debt and next thing you know, we’re right back into debt again. How many times have we said, “It’ll never happen again?”

It’s the same way with sin. We get our sins cleared––wiped away––and we go back to racking up our sins again. “Oh, this won’t hurt. God will forgive me for just this one time…”

And we need to get our debts erased again.

Paul the Apostle said to the church in Rome, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer…What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

This goes well with what wise King Solomon said, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” Just as we are slaves to our borrower (the credit card), we are also slaves to sin. But as we reflect back on our Independence Day weekend, let us remember that we were once slaves to sin, but now we are free from sin due to Christ’s finished work on the cross. Just as our nation was founded on the blood of those who fought for our physical freedoms, Christ fought a spiritual war to obtain our spiritual freedom. 

We are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves (servants) of God. Let’s not take his grace for granted. Let’s not go back into slavery. “God’s credit card” has been paid in full. We needn’t rack up more debt time and time again. It’s been paid for, and yes, Christ’s blood washes our debt every time. But because our debt has been paid (again), it doesn’t give us freedom to rack up more debt. Since we’re free from debt, let’s keep it that way.

For more on this topic, read my sermon on “Freedom in Christ.”