Your Free Meal Plan

Some of you might recall that some years ago, I girded my loins, packed my suitcase, and hopped a train to travel to New York City. I met my co-writer in Manhattan, and we pitched some of our novel manuscripts to big-time book agents. The experience was exhausting and exhilarating, all in one fell swoop. So many hopes, dreams, and adventures crowded into the weekend.

We were only there for two or three nights, but one of those evenings, my co-writer took me to a swanky restaurant. It was a high-end one that would normally clean out my bank account if I attempted to eat a full meal there, and when she first suggested it, I was a little horrified at the idea. Sure, it'd be a great experience, but how would I feed my family until the next paycheck came through? :)

It turns out, though, that the owner of the restaurant... was a friend of hers. When we arrived at the restaurant, decked out in our nicest clothes (I'd borrowed a dress from my sister-in-law; apparently I don't own such a thing as a cocktail dress), my friend gave her name to the maître d'. The man glanced at his list (he had a list, and y'all... we were on the list), and a smile covered his face. "Oh, [the owner] has been expecting you! Please, come this way." And he led us to our table. A waiter immediately appeared to take our order, and throughout the evening, extra attention was showered on us: You liked that steak? We have a different rub; would you like to try that one? Can't decide on dessert? Here, try both! Try all!

Toward the end of our time there (we were both very full), the owner himself came by the table and talked with us for a while. Before we left, he assured us that our restaurant bill, which most certainly would have cleaned out my bank account... was complimentary. 

Because my friend had built a relationship with the owner.

In Romans 6:15-23, Paul lays out a picture of relationship. Humans, he says, either have a relationship with sin... or a relationship with righteousness, and he uses the highly imperfect example of slavery to push home this idea. For the record, nowhere does the Bible condone slavery, but Paul uses the term here, so that his readers, who own slaves, or perhaps are slaves themselves, can understand what he means. He says: "I put this in human terms (that imperfect example of slavery) because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness, leading to holiness" (Romans 6:19).

I talked about this a little bit yesterday in my post: "Go Back the Way You Came!" where the outward "parts" are representative of the inner "position." 

Listen, if your inner position is unholiness, that's going to show up in the outward parts of our bodies as we "offer them as slaves to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness." Okay, for example, I'll pick on the movie industry. Do we want to watch movies where sex scenes take up 80% of the screen time or where every other word is an F-bomb? Whatever our motives are for filling up our hearts with these things, y'all, the outcome is probably going to show up in our own lives, because of what we've been feeding our hearts. And also... we can't make the mistake of thinking such decisions don't hurt anyone else. I've been a kindergarten teaching assistant who has had to have some serious conversations about "how we shouldn't use words like that when we talk to our friends" with some five-year-olds who have big ears and wide eyes and who watch every move we make. Something to think about.

On the other side of that scenario: If our inner position is righteousness, the parts of our bodies will bring praise to our Creator; we will be holy in His sight. The closer we live to the sun, the brighter will be our home. The more time we spend in a posture of obedience to the Lord, the more we want to obey Him. In return, we show His love and grace and goodness and righteousness and holiness to those around us.

Romans 6:22-23 says: "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So, benefit: My friend knew the owner of that swanky NYC restaurant, and as a result, we had a delicious and free meal. Not because we looked so nice, or because we were so very charming, or because we deserved a free meal in any way, shape, or form... but my friend had a good relationship with the owner, and our benefit... was delicious.

We can't live in holiness unless we have a relationship with the Creator, y'all. We can be "pretty good." But let me tell you, when it comes to eternity, pretty good doesn't cut it. Only total and complete holiness -- no sin, no black stains, not even the slightest shade of gray -- can be found in the presence of our Holy God.

And that's why a relationship with His Son is so all-fired important. Because we are sinners. We do carry sin and black stains and even shades of gray with us, no matter how hard we try to live a righteous life. This is a part of living as a human in a sinful world. We. are. sinners. 

But here's the good news! Jesus took our sins away from us, made us absolutely clean, and brought us into the presence of the Father, completely pure, completely holy, because of that relationship. Heaven is a perk, y'all. It's a benefit. We don't have to pay for the wedding feast of the Lamb. We might be amazed at our lavish surroundings. But the relationship with Jesus is the real deal.

Let's stop looking at the perks like that's our goal. Our goal is to know our Savior.

One more thing: Wages v. Gift. 

One is earned (wages), one isn't (gift). I remember waiting for my paychecks to come through. I've been blessed to work at jobs I enjoy (usually), but now and then I've had a job I really... didn't like. I tried not to complain, because work is work, and some people don't have the opportunity or ability to work, but I admit, when I had to stand for a six hour slow shift behind a grocery store register with a very small slice of window to sit down somewhere in the middle of it... some ungrateful thoughts did work their way into my mind. 

But when payday came, every aching moment on my feet made it somehow worthwhile. I'd earned that money. Those were my wages. I'd worked for them.

So here's my question: If the wages of sin is death (eternal death), why in the world are we working to earn it? Meanwhile, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's free. It's right there. 

I'm so thankful that someone introduced the book, Little Pilgrim's Progress, to me as a child. It's waaay easier to read than John Bunyan's original work, and Helen Taylor did a great job of sticking faithfully to the story, but rewriting it so even young children could follow along. But portions from that book have stayed with me. 

One portion of that book comes back to me here: Christian leaves his stay with the Interpreter at the Wicket-Gate and makes his way along the path. And there, nearby, so easy to access, because it stands right along the pathway... is the cross. As soon as he sees it, the huge and heavy burden he'd been carrying on his back falls off and rolls away, and he is completely and forever free of it. 

Salvation is a gift. Eternal life is a gift. Because of the relationship we can have with Jesus, it's complimentary.