Bought With A Price

How do you treat something you paid good money for?

Are you quick to throw it away? At the first sight of imperfection, are you inclined to toss that investment out and give up on it?

The likely answer: no.

So it it with our Christ. He paid the ULTIMATE PRICE and we belong to him. That tells me that we're worth something to Him. Often, we grow up viewing God as this judgmental, quick-to-punish-us type of God whom we tiptoe around feeling like He's sitting on His throne just waiting for us to make one wrong move to condemn us to eternal punishment. I am proposing that this is a wrong view of our God. Will He judge our sin? Ultimately, yes. He is our Father. He is LOVE. He is slow to judgment. He came to SAVE that which was lost, not condemn it. He's got a lot invested in this creation called mankind. Just as we would care for something that we give considerable value and just as we would maintain that treasure, so it is with God. He loved us so much that he died so that we could know Him. No greater love than this, that a man would lay down his life for a friend. A healthy fear of God will drive you toward his mercy; an unhealthy fear of God will drive you away from his merciful reach.