From: Ben Kelley
Subject: Old Abe's credit limit
I know the following passage,
especially the last verse, has been "preached" untold number of times. I'm
sure I'm not adding anything new or earth-shattering, but I believe we need to
take another look at it.
After these things the word of the
LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and
thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give
me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of
Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo,
one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came
unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out
of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad,
and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number
them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted
it to him for righteousness
(Genesis 15:1-6 (KJV)
We, as Christians, which means "belonging to Christ", need to
be periodically reminded that our salvation is neither acquired nor kept by our
"works of righteousness." It is strictly built and preserved by God,
and all we contribute is faith, which, by the way, is also a gift
from Him (Ephesians 2:9). When we hear His Word and believe in Him and
what HE says, we are "credited", or more literally, "numbered" with the
righteous. We are numbered, not with those whom God sees covered with
their sin, but, instead, with those who HE sees covered with the blood of
Jesus. When the national census is taken in our country every ten years,
we are counted with the citizens of the United States of America, but if
we were to renounce that citizenship, move to another country, and apply for and
receive citizenship in that country, we would from then on be counted with the
citizens of that country. That's a poor illustration of what happens when
we place our faith in, or believe in God,
but it fits. We are, when we gain citizenship in another country, treated
and seen as if we had been born there, subject to all its laws and privileges,
counted as one of its own!
A number of us have what we call "credit cards", which
allow us to place our expenses for something onto the company issuing those
cards. They allow us to purchase things we would not be able to buy
without those companies extending credit to us. We are allowed to act as
if we have more money than we really do. The bad points about these credit
cards are the facts that we each have a credit limit, and we have to repay the
amount we put on credit, plus interest. These facts make this arrangement
far less attractive than it first appears. What if, though, a company
offered us free access to their coffers and took away the required payback and
interest? We would be extremely hesitant to enter into association with
such a company, thinking, "this is too good to be true. There has to be a
"catch" hidden somewhere!" Well, if an earthly company made
such an offer, we would be absolutely correct in thinking that way.
The really great news is, the "company" of God, the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, makes exactly such an offer! We need
salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, and the resultant fact of eternal life
with God, but we have absolutely nothing of any value to offer
God to entice Him to give us these things. The Gospel, the "good news",
tells us God has extended that offer to anyone of us who will accept it,
with no credit limit and no requirement of
payback. It tells us Jesus, God the Son, has already paid off the
debt we owe because of our sins. When we accept this by faith, our "credit
statement" is automatically stamped, "paid in full!" We
receive the "credit limit" God gave to Abram (later God changed his name to
Abraham), an unlimited one, that already has "paid in full" on
it! We need never worry that we might not have the ability to "pay off"
what such a thing would "cost" us, for we have been given access to the
Bank of Heaven, with no annual fees, interest rates, or payback
requirement attached! What a deal!!!
If you haven't already availed yourself of this offer, please
remember it's a "limited time offer!" There is a cutoff
date, but none of us know what that date is. You may have a year to
consider it, or, less than 5 seconds. Only God knows, so, if you
want it, you'd better ask for it now, before it's too
late! There's no credit limit, but there is a time
limit. Don't wait too late. Ask God to apply Jesus' payment to your
account. Confess you have nothing to offer in payment except the blood of
His Son. Receive Him as the payment of your account, then thank Him for
His "no credit limit" offer! If you have already done
this, then take a few moments to say "Thank You!" for His amazingly
generous offer. Give Him all the glory and
praise!