PAID FOR

These words are written on a parking pass from last weekend, and every time I read them, I can’t help but think about how meaningful it is.

What does this mean to be paid for?

I think about life as if everyone is in a car. We are all driving in different directions, take different paths, and have different destinations.

Sometimes we stray off. We park where we are not supposed to, or we speed on the freeway, or we venture into the carpool lane illegally. We mess up, we sin. And for that, we get a ticket.

The thing is, Jesus has already paid the price for that ticket and for all your tickets. It doesn’t matter the price whether its lying, stealing, adultery, etc. It’s PAID. It’s DONE. He has already taken the bullet for you.

When we give that ticket, that mistake to Jesus, He takes the guilt away, the shame, and instead fills us with His love, His mercy, His peace. We just need to give it to him.

I messed up recently, and I have felt so shameful. I felt like I had come so far in changing who I am and my behavior to reflect what I believe. I believe in Jesus and what He stands for, how could I sin that badly again? I know I won’t be perfect, but still. And I forget that all sins are the same to Him.

Seeing these words “PAID FOR,” they were the words I needed to read. I am PAID FOR. Jesus paid the price for ME. He forgives me. He loves me. He knows I will mess up again, and guess what? I will be PAID FOR again. I sometimes forget how deep His mercy and love go for me. They go to the depths of the seas and beyond for ME. For YOU.

The enemy doesn’t want us to know this or fathom this. He wants us to hold onto our tickets, let them stack up, so his lies can grow in our minds and destroy us. Lies that we are too broken, too far gone, too messed up, too damaged.

My friends, you are paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. Don’t forget it.

Romans 6:10-14 (NIV)

¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.