Megan Evans, Women’s Ministry Director, LHBC
Psalm 49:7-8
7Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
Have you ever had your money turned away by a local bank? I have. Recently, my daughter and I took a bag of coins to deposit in the bank, $36.20 to be exact. But, we were turned away. She was preparing to leave for college and wanted to deposit a large cupful of coins that she had collected. We carefully counted every quarter, dime, nickel, and penny and placed them into a bag labeled with the recorded sum. Once at the bank, we handed her money and deposit slip to the bank teller, but her response was surprising. “We can’t accept this deposit,” she said. We smiled and laughed because we thought she was joking with us. After all, coins are money and banks accept money, right?
Who would have thought that a deposit of money could ever be rejected? The teller then explained to us that the coins must be submitted in wrapped rolls. She graciously shared some coin wrappers and after tirelessly recounting and wrapping our coins, we successfully made our deposit.
These same bedraggled and dirty coins became a perfectly acceptable deposit after they were wrapped in paper sleeves. The whole experience got me thinking. People are a lot like these coins. We might look and smell like the real thing, but we miss the mark for all eternity if we are not wrapped, or clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Fully redeemed, we become a new creation in Christ, fully holy and acceptable to God.
Psalm 49:7-8 explains that we can’t pay the ransom for our own life or the lives of one another. The ransom is too costly and can never suffice. We do not bring to God the sum of what we think we are worth. Only Jesus’s work on the cross satisfies the price of sin, not our good deeds or religious practices. Through Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, we are bought back to God and made right with Him. What good news!
Unlike my bank teller, who let us try again, we are only given one opportunity to present the Great Deposit of Christ when we die. This Psalm reminds us that life is precious and our days are few. Psalm 49 in its entirety challenges us to view our life through a Kingdom lens. We get wrapped up in a lot of things of this world. So much of the world’s focus and drive really doesn’t matter in the eternal scheme of things. Is there Kingdom focus in your day? What about in your interests, goals, and dreams? What are you wrapped up in today?
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, I love you. I am in awe of your grace and mercy. How great is your love for me that you sent your Son Jesus to pay the price for my sin! I am no longer in the clutches of sin and death! Show me how to live my life with a Kingdom focus and point others to You. In Jesus Name, Amen.
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever