Remembering who paid the price for salvation~Mike MacIntosh

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.Romans 5:6-10


One of the best fishermen in the country lived in the state of Georgia; fishing was indeed his life. The story goes that one day he and his trustworthy dog of many years went out early in the morning to fish. The dog never caused any trouble as he would just sleep and hang his paws over the side of the boat while the man was fishing. But something this particular day caught the dog's attention; something was rustling wildly over on the grassy shore. The dog jumped up; his tail went straight. Then he started barking, to the fisherman's angst. There was no way that he was going to catch fish with all of the noise. As much as he tried to keep his dog from barking and causing a ruckus, it didn't help. The fisherman got so angry at the dog that he took his filet knife and cut the tips of the dog's paws off. So there was the dog, bleeding and in severe pain…all so that the man could catch fish.

Now how did that make you feel?

The point of the story is this: I bet you were more upset, angry, or had painful feelings about the dog than when you read the Romans 5 passage above, depicting what our Lord Jesus Christ went though on the cross for your sins. Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross, bled, and hung there in misery, pain, and ultimate death for your sins. I'm sorry that the story was so graphic, but sometimes we get so churchy and we forget what it meant for our sins to be washed away and forgiven. Jesus paid the price of a painful death for you! None of us deserve eternity in God's presence. But when we give our lives to the Lord, He forgives us. Ephesians 2:8 says that it is by His grace that we're saved. We don't deserve salvation, but He gives it to you because He loves you. May we never--ever--take our Lord's precious sacrifice for our sins for granted.