Feeling A Debt To Sinners

 

A $1 bill met an old friend, the $20 bill, and said, “Hey, what’s up? I haven’t seen you around here lately.” The $20 bill said, “I’ve been hanging out at the casinos, went a cruise, saw a couple of baseball games, that kind of thing. How about you?” The dollar bill said, “Oh, you know, the same old thing; church, church, church.”

What would you think of a person who was deeply in debt to someone else and all the time this person had the ability to pay off the debt but didn’t? What if the person to whom the money was owed was naïve, poor, and ignorant, so that the debtor could avoid paying off the debt? What would your opinion be of the debtor? You would probably be outraged of the lack of moral integrity, would you not?

During the Civil Wars in England a man on the Isle of Man was accused of treason and sentenced to death. The king eventually granted him a pardon. The pardon fell into the hands of a bitter enemy of the condemned man, and it was never delivered to the jailer. The man from the Isle of Man was executed. What do you think of someone who possesses a pardon which could have saved another person’s life, but he fails to deliver it, whether intentionally or by neglect? Again, would you not be outraged at the insensitivity and inhumanity of this person?

The story is told of a man who carried a small can of oil with him everywhere he went. If he passed through a door that squeaked, he’d put a drop or two of oil on the hinges, and if a gate were too hard to open, he’d oil the latch. So, he passed through life lubricating all the squeaky places, making it a little more pleasant for those who followed him. There is no telling how many lives you and I could keep from rusting and squeaking and how many gates we could open to happiness, if only we would apply a little oil of human kindness and brotherly love to those we encounter throughout our day. Let us use it wherever we go, for there are many lives hardened and rusting away in sin.

[Romans 1:14-15] The apostle Paul wrote, “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and unwise. So as much is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.” Paul said that he was a debtor to the people of the world. Of course, Paul was in debt to God for His marvelous grace. Paul was in debt to Jesus Christ for His substitution sacrifice of atonement at Calvary. Why should Paul feel a debt to the sinners of the world - most of them he never met, many of whom were his enemies? Paul felt the obligation because God called him to be an apostle. Paul was “separated to the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1). Paul possessed the payment to save others from spiritual bankruptcy. He possesses the pardon from the King to save them from being executed. He had the gospel, the good news of Jesus. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Romans 1:16).

We possess this very same gospel today which has the identical saving power as it did in the first century. The needs of people today for salvation are just as pressing as those of Paul’s world were. Should we not feel the same debt of obligation to others to share the good news of Jesus Christ?

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength; and whosoever loves much, can accomplish much; and what is done in love is well done” Vincent Van Gogh.

“Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too” Will Smith.