“Salvation is the gift of God… not of works, lest any man should boast…” Ephesians 2:8
July 17, 2023 - When I was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Mauriceville, Texas, Deacon Leroy Neel and I often hunted and fished together. He called me one day to tell me about a binocular sale he’d seen in the Field and Stream Magazine. The ad described them as “8X precision optics with Old World craftsmanship” for the amazing price of $4.95!! We got our orders off that day and could hardly wait to get them.
After meeting for the formal opening of our new possessions, we raced outside to test them. But as we held them to our eyes, we only saw haze and rainbows. As Leroy grinned at me sheepishly, I asked, “Well, what do you think?” “I think we got what we paid for,” he laughed.
Most of us know that things too good to be true usually aren’t true. Many of my bargain buys --- a router for $19.95, a camera lens for $14.95 and a host of other “unbelievable” bargains have convinced me that getting what we pay for is a general truth.
But there’s a wonderful exception to this rule. Nothing we have can buy us a ticket to heaven. If we receive eternal life, it won’t be because we paid for it…
… but because Jesus did.
