Paying God-7 Top Bible Verses PLUS an everyday story …
Water bills are skyrocketing…
The local online chat page is full of complaints…
The village installed new meters…
Bills are up 50 percent…
100 percent…
Even 200 percent from previous bills.
My water bill arrives…
I can’t tell you how much it is…
It’s too painful to think about…
I’ll just say it’s 3 times higher than past bills.
I call the water department.
“Maybe you have a leak,” says the voice on the phone…
“We’ll send out somebody to check.”
“Turn off all the water,” the guy says when he arrives.
“We’ll see if the water meter moves.”
The meter is still.
There is no leak…
So, my wife and I start plotting how to save water…
There is s limit to what we can pay for water.
Some of our ideas are serious…
Others not so much…
“We’ll stop washing clothes,” she says…
“Let’s shower once a year,” I add…
“If we do that,” she replies, “we’ll save gas for the car…
Because our friends won’t invite us out nearly as often!”
As we laugh, a thought pops into my head…
What if God had a meter?
What if He charged us…
For His protection…
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
His provision…
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Matthew 6:31-32
What if He charged us for His Love…
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16
For His grace…
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God… Ephesians 2:8
Who could afford a bill from God?
No one.
God doesn’t send a bill…
Because He knew we could never pay it…
So, He paid it…
Paid it in full…
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24
