ROMANS 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

TO PONDER

One of my first jobs was cutting apricots. Apricot cutting in the middle of summer in the South Australian Riverland was how we spent many school holidays with my siblings. Dad was on holiday, while his kids slaved away. On a cousin’s fruit block, we would set up the tent (yes, middle of summer), and for two weeks we would cut many trays of apricots. We didn’t mind, because we were paid, and those days a completed tray was worth 50c!

At the end of the two weeks, our ‘wages’ were announced. One year I earned nearly $200. And then dad loved reminding us five kids of this verse. He’d quote it to us, but it was only ever the first part we heard. He never completed it, which we understand now, because then the humour of it would be lost. 

You can’t have half the verse. You need it all. You need the second part to cancel out the first part. And you can’t just have the second half, because it doesn’t work without the first half. The first part is the Law, and the second part is the Gospel. The first part reminds us of our humanness, and the second part tells us what the gift is. It’s another reminder of our lives on this earth, and then what the next bit will be.  

PRAYER: Thanks Lord, for sorting out the next stage of our lives. Help us to be the faithful people you want us to be. Give us strength and courage to act our faith on this earth because you take us home. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping