One day I went down to my favorite coffee shop Coffee Xpresso. I usually went down every other Wednesday, have a cup of coffee, and read, work on lesson or something of that nature. Most people wouldn’t think it possible, but when you have a hard time focusing, it is chaotic enough to get a lot done. As i was going in I stopped to make faces at a kid in the car of a very close friend. When i got inside there were several people in there I usually see and spoke to them. I ordered my coffee and sat down, opened my MacBook and started working. When Andrew, the Barista, finally brought my Pecan Pie Latte, I told him I would pay before I left because I needed some coffee beans. He said, “Somebody already paid for it, so don’t worry about it.” I asked who it was, because the shop had almost cleared out by that time, and he said I knew he wouldn’t tell me. I asked him to thank whoever it was and enjoyed a very delicious latte. It might even have tasted better than if I had paid for it.
Now I don’t accept things very easily. My first thought is out of pride. “Why would someone do that? I can pay for a latte.” “I’ll just go ahead and pay for it myself.” And then, “Am I going to be indebted to this person?” Those kind of things are normal for me when someone does something nice. However I am learning to accept things, so these questions are not much of an issue issue anymore. This got me thinking, “It would be silly to try and pay for something that was already been paid for, especially from God.”
Romans 5:15 But God's free gift is not like Adam's sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But the grace from God was much greater; many people received God's gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:23 “The payment for sin is death. But God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 4:10 Jesus said, [to the samaritan woman at the well] "If you only knew the free gift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Let the one who hears this say, "Come!" Let whoever is thirsty come; whoever wishes may have the water of life as a free gift.
Salvation is free to us. We can’t give enough offering, hug enough babies, pet enough puppies, do enough missions, or teach enough lessons to pay for our sins. We can’t read our Bibles enough, pray, fast, or worship enough to pay for our salvation. IT IS FREE. And we should live like we are not paying God back, but enjoying being in his Grace.
Like my Latte, how much more could we enjoy life if we just lived it with God. How much better would we enjoy church, if we didn’t feel indebtedness, but worshipped out of freedom and desire. What would our lives look like if we accepted the fact that God’s grace is much greater than our sin.
I couldn’t pay for my latte anymore than I can pay for my salvation.
