The Cost of Grace
Theme of the Week: Graded on the Curve?
Thursday, April 9, 2009
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors … with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:18-19). Bonus Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:9-11
Paul, one of the men in my Paramount, California, church, wanted to stop using profanity. He asked his friend William to help him break the habit. The two hatched an aggressive plan. Each Sunday Paul would tell William how many times he'd cussed during the week—and put $5 in the offering plate for every bad word uttered.
The first week Paul paid for $100 worth of profanity! Over several weeks, the amount contributed shrank a bit, but Paul wasn't winning the battle. So William changed the rules: now William would pay the bill for Paul's bad words!
The following Sunday, when it was obvious that Paul had missed the mark again, William took out his checkbook. "Paul," he said, "Your sin will still cost someone, but for you it's free. It's called grace." He made a check out to the church, signed his name, and left the amount blank. "Just fill in the numbers," William told his friend. "Next week there'll be more grace."
The first week cost William $55. The second week, William's check was written for $20. But the third week? There was no check. For Paul, the cost of grace was simply too high to continue hurting his friend.
—Bill White in PreachingToday.com
My Response: I'll picture the sins I cling to as "nailing the Son of God to the cross again" (Hebrews 6:6).
Thought to Apply: A sight of his crucifixion crucifies sin!—Charles H. Spurgeon (English preacher)
Adapted from our sister website PreachingToday.com.
Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Intensify my grasp of your holiness this week so that I can begin to comprehend the cost of sacrificing your Son.
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