Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
There once was an expression; “A day’s wages for a day’s work.” I am not sure if that is still modern day thinking. It seems to be more like; “You can afford it so give me a wage whether I earn it or not.” It seems to be proper to cheat our employers by not giving our all on the job.
In today’s Scripture we have two contrasting words; wages and gift. Immediately we are struck by the differences. Wages come as a result of what we do. A gift is given as an expression of favor from by another. It is what they do.
Immediately I think we can see the difference. It is almost like Satan being our harsh task master. When we yield to sin we are promised wages. It reminds me of the old mining towns where the company owned everything. The wage was not in currency, but in company tokens. They could only be used to pay for company housing, food in the company store and medicine from the company clinic. The wage was death!
On the opposite side of the coin, so to speak, God has offered us a gift. It is a free gift. It is an eternal gift of never ending life. It was paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross. As with any other gift, it must be accepted. Have you received your gift yet?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil