Saturday Scripture Speaks #10

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32 (NIV)

This is going to be short and to the point. Tonight I'm tired and the hour is late, but if I don't write this now I might not get it done for tomorrow. It's just been one of those kind of weeks.

This is a meaningful verse for me and hopefully for you too. When I think of God's sacrifice - giving up His own Son for me - I sit in awe.

Many, many years before Christ's death on the cross, Abraham faced a similar situation. God asked him to sacrifice his son and Abraham came very close to doing it. In fact, if the Lord had not stopped him, he would have killed Isaac, so much was his love for his God.

God provided a sacrifice that day when He told Abraham that he need not kill Isaac - a ram was caught in a thicket.

Jesus became that "lamb" for us so that we need not die for our sins (talking spiritually here, not physically).

That's the best thing anyone could ever do for another - to die so that someone else would not need to.

Romans 8:32 goes on to say that God gives us every good thing. Have you stopped to think about the good things that He gives you?

This week our furnace went out. I'm talking dead and done with. We live in northern Michigan. It gets very cold here and, in fact, it was below zero the night the furnace quit. We were VERY cold in here but tried to make do until someone could come and fix the furnace.

After two days and nights of using a space heater and boiling water on the stove to generate heat, we learned that the furnace could not be fixed. We were told that it was amazing that we were still alive considering the cracks and rust in that old relic (natural gas can be an odorless killer.)

God gives us every good thing. He provided a new, energy efficient furnace. We have no idea how much money it cost. We haven't been told that. We've only been told that someone has purchased it for us. Praise the Lord!

As great as that gift is, it doesn't even come close to comparing with the gift of salvation and the forgiveness of sins. Would YOU die for someone else, especially someone who deserves to die himself? Think about it.