Back in my college days a couple of friends and I spent one spring
break painting a house. It wasn't your typical
take-it-easy spring break, but we all needed a little money and for financially
strapped college kids the pay off was pretty good. So we
took the job. We worked hard that week
and when the job was done we all got our checks and raced them to the bank. After the deposit my balance hit a semester
high. I was riding high until later that
week I went to the ATM to make a withdrawal and was surprised to get the
dreaded "insufficient funds" message!
I went to the bank to see what the problem was and after a
little investigation the teller discovered the issue. The check had never been signed! It was an accidental oversight. The missing signature was not caught when I deposited
the check so I assumed it had cleared but, after review, it hadn't. So there I was - back to my typical meager
balance. An unsigned check isn’t worth
the paper it’s printed on. The money was
never credited to my account.
Since then I've been a lot more careful to check the
signature line of checks. And even
though that was an honest mistake, as I have come into adulthood I've also
become a lot more wary of scams and fine
print and other tactics people use to make you think you’re getting a bargain
but you're really not. I feel deceived
when a promise is made but then reneged on.
There are a lot of people like that.
People who make promises but don’t come through. People who always find a loophole. People who don’t sign their checks.
Because of these negative experiences with people we
sometimes project that same suspicion on God.
God has promised to wash away our sins, to forgive us, to blot out our transgressions,
and I really want to believe Him, but that suspicious side of me wonders if I
have missed some fine print. A part of
me fears that when I get to that great ATM in the sky I will be eternally
disappointed by that dreaded "insufficient funds" message.
I've recently finished preaching through Romans 8, one of the
greatest chapters in the Bible. Read it
and I think you'll agree. There are so
many great verses in that one chapter, but one of the greatest is the very
first - "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." I've check the Greek and "no" means
"no". I've look for fine print
and can’t find any. I've cross-referenced
this verse with other passages in the Bible to see if God has some loophole
built in and I can’t find any. No condemnation
means no condemnation. Others may go
back on their promises, but not God.
Christian, we can be confident that on judgment day God is
not going to pull out some old file with all our sins and use them against
us. Christian, we can be confident that
our debt has been paid by the blood of Christ. Christian, we don’t have to live
with the guilt of the sins of our past.
Christian, the check has been signed. The funds have been deposited and credited to
your account. You are forgiven and you
can take that to the bank!
