Unconditional Love

He came to pay a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. - Author Unknown

This weekend Mom, Dad and I did an event in Waxahachie.  It was crazy and it was fun but the best part was I had the opportunity to spend time with my parents.  I must say preparing for these events takes a lot of time, effort and work.  My parents are both in their 70’s and as my husband often says, they have more energy than anyone he knows. 

On Saturday morning I got up early and was waiting for Mom and Dad to stop by and pick me up to go to the event.  Before I left the house my husband asked me if I had cash on me because he wouldn’t have time to go by the bank before he went to work.  I told him I did but I only had a twenty so I gave it to him.

Later that morning while we were at the event I saw something that I wanted to buy someone for Christmas but I didn’t have cash on me so I asked my Mom if I could borrow $40 from the cash register and I would pay it back when I went to get cash.  So Mom tells me to just take what I need so I took out two twenties from my cash register.  I also reached over and picked up a business card and wrote on the back, “I owe Purple Ranch $40 and then I signed below it.  I dropped the card in the slot for twenties and didn’t think about it again that day.  So this card was stuck in the middle of the twenties. 

Sunday I drove out to my parent’s house to work on things for our next event.  So I am sitting at the kitchen table filling bottles with product when Dad walks out of his office and hands me a card and then he turns and goes back to his office.  I look down at the card and it is the business card that I left in the cash register.  Written in red ink across my “I Owe You” were these words, “Paid in Full”.  

The first thought that crossed my mind was Jesus. That is what Jesus did for me on the cross.  He paid my debt of sin in full by dying on a cross.  That is what I call unconditional love.  It doesn’t depend on my goodness, how many things I do for others, what I look like, where I’ve been in my life or how many sins I’ve committed.  My debt is “Paid in Full.  If we can ever wrap our arms around the love of Jesus for us, it should humble us.  If we ever understand the true reality of what that means, then we will know how we should act toward others.  God wants us to be like Him.  If we ever hope to be like Him, then we must turn to others and mark their debt “Paid in Full.”         

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I would give my last dying breath for my parents.  They sacrificed many of the luxuries of life for their children.  They taught me what it means to love unconditionally.  The legacy they leave behind will be that they taught me to love others.  That is a treasure worth more than anything I can obtain in this world.  Thank you for reminding me what it means to have a debt “Paid in Full.”     

Scripture:  But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.  Romans 8:9-11