Photo by Alexander Grey
By Mike Chaffin
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Everyone wants a fair wage for the work they perform. Jesus even taught a parable about wages where some thought they were unfair. (Matthew 20:1-16) They wanted more than they bargained for because they saw some getting a large payday for a little work.
In our verse Paul uses the analogy of wages to elaborate on Jesus’ teaching. We come into the world under the curse of sin. We live in sin, reveling in it at times. This lifestyle’s ultimate payday is death. Not just a physical death, but a spiritual one. This isn’t death in the physical sense in which we cease to exist but eternal separation from God and never-ending punishment.
The wonderful thing about God is He gave us a way out. His Son, Jesus, paid for our sins. His death was a gift for those who believe. Now we have the opportunity to have eternal life instead of what we earned, eternal death.
Talk to God. He hears. Ask Jesus to come into your heart. He stands at the door to your soul wanting to come in and live with you. The power of the Holy Spirit living in us gives us the power to no longer be slaves to sin. It’s the biggest decision of your life, take the gift, not the wages.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of eternal life. I accept your gift today. Come into my heart and live in me. Wipe away all the sins and stains of life that have marked me. Seal me in your love so I can live for you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
* There is a website that conducted a search for Bible verses. They compiled a list of the verses in order of the magnitude of hits they got in their search. Some of these verses qualify as ‘people’s favorites’, while others might be on the list because they are some of the most important and most teachable words of God.
