Author James Herriot

Paid in Full

Author James Herriot tells of an unforgettable wedding anniversary he and
his wife celebrated early in their marriage. His boss had encouraged him to
take his wife to a fancy restaurant, but Herriot balked. He was a young
veterinarian and couldn't really afford it. "Oh, do it!" the boss insisted.
Herriot reluctantly agreed and surprised his wife with the news.

En route to the restaurant, Herriot and his wife stopped at a farm to
examine a farmer's horse. Having finished the routine exam, he returned to
his car and drove to the restaurant, unaware that his checkbook had fallen
in the mud. After a wonderful meal, Herriot reached for his checkbook and
discovered it was gone. Quite embarrassed, he tried to offer a way of
making it up.

"Not to worry," the waiter replied. "Your dinner has been taken care of!"

As it was, Herriot's employer had paid for the dinner in advance. *

God has done the same for us. Jesus' utterance on the cross, "It is
finished" (John 19:30), is a Greek term meaning "paid in full." On the
cross, Jesus paid for the debt of our sins and He paid the debt "in full."

In Today's Walk in the Word (7/22/21), Joe Barnett stated this sublime truth
succinctly:

Jesus paid our sin debt.

We owed it but couldn't pay it. He didn't owe it but paid it. The debt is no
longer owed - It has been paid in full.

We could get by on nothing less.

We need nothing more.

We rely on nothing else.

"Hopelessly in debt" is now past tense. **

All we have to do is accept God's offer of forgiveness and eternal life on
His terms. God will cancel the debt of sin and give eternal life to those
who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their
sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans
10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of
sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue
to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Your debt has been paid if only you will accept God's offer on His terms.

Won't YOU?

-- David Sargent

* As qtd. by Darryl Dash, www.dashhouse.com. ** "Paid in Full." Today's
Walk in the Word (7/22/2021) by Joe Barnett, Pathway Evangelism,
www.pathwayco.com.

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