How much?

I went on a field trip recently with my son. He had such a wonderful time and I always feel thankful when we make it back to the school safe and sound - those buses carry precious cargo.


It is not unusual for the places that kids visit on field trips to have a gift shop. The students were advised to bring money if they wanted to bring home a souvenir. My son picked out a couple of small items and we made our way to the checkout.


The little boy in front of us put his purchases on the counter and held a five dollar bill in his hand. The lady at the register said "Oops, this will be $5.25 - you'll have to put something back." I spoke up and said "I've got it." I handed him a quarter that he handed to the cashier.

Later, I was thinking about what happened. I found it sad that he didn't have quite enough money for the Oriental Trading Company - quality stuff . I thought how sad it was that the cashier had to ask him to put something up and wondered if I would have fished a quarter out of my pocket if I had been behind the register or have done the same thing that she did.

I was thankful that I was there with my quarter.

God wasn't going to let me pat myself on the shoulder for my quarter's worth of generosity for very long.

How much? He put that question to my heart. How much would I have helped this little boy who was buying a souvenir.


50 cents? A dollar? Two dollars? FIVE??? At what point would I have said "Sorry Dude, you are going to have to put something up." It was easy for me to offer 25 cents. It would have been easy to offer 50 cents. But at some point I would have said "Oops, you'll have to put something back.

Jesus never says "Ooops, that's too much." He paid it all. Every sin that I have committed, may be committing this moment, or will commit in the future... my debt is paid. His Grace never runs out. There is no limit to those who accept Him as their Lord and Savior. This doesn't mean that believers should treat Grace like a credit card with no payment due - we don't abuse what was afforded to us through Christ's shed blood on the cross. In the face of Christ's suffering and pain for our sin, we should be mindful of the cost and desire to "sin no more."

Today, on Good Friday, may we remember Christ's sacrifice for his beloved.

Thank You Father God. Thank you for your love, that you would send your only Son, the Lamb of God, to die on the cross for the sin of the world. Thank you Father that I am able to celebrate Good Friday in truth. In Jesus name, Amen.