Monday, November 5, 2012

The Lottery


 
I read a great story the other day about a grandma who was having difficulty paying her electric, cable, and phone bill. I would have to imagine that her financial situation was in complete disarray with no hope of tomorrow making it better. Several months earlier, she’d purchased a lottery ticket and put it in her glove box. As you may know, winners only have so long to claim their prize. As time neared the end, grandma cleaned out her glove box and found her ticket; it was worth $28 million.

Stories like this are heartwarming and a little enticing to go buy a lottery ticket. The fact is grandma’s destructive financial problems need not have been. Her answer rested beside her day after day, for months. Her reprieve from agony as she went to sleep in fear of what tomorrow would bring was only a memory away. Her rescue from financial ruin was often inches from her grasp; all she had to do was recognize its existence, take ahold of it, and accept the gift that awaited her.
While I could expound on the futility of wealth and how this does not solve her eternal issues, that is not the point. Christ has given us a gift. We didn’t even have to spend a dollar; it’s free because He has accomplished the task. Many live their entire life a breath, a thought, or a doubt away from receiving the greatest gift humankind has ever received. They slip in to the other side never opening their proverbial glove box and miss out on what could have been.

When I hear the incredible voice of Adele sing, “We Could Have Had It All”, I can’t help but imagine Jesus saying the chorus of that song to those who never accepted their gift of eternal life. We could have had it all, running in the deep, you had My heart inside your hand and you played it to the beat. Throw your soul through every open door. Count your blessings to find what you look for. Turn My sorrow into treasured gold. You pay Me back in kind and reap just what you sow.
The gift of grace, mercy, and salvation are waiting for you to open your heart, see Jesus for what and Who He is, and accept His completed work. He did it for you. He did it for me. Sadly, many will never cash in their untold wealth; instead, they settle for the dirt we stand on, the dust we breathe in, and the mud from which He made us. You could have it all.

 

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