Until You Have Paid the Last Penny

Matthew 5:25-26

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.  Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

In Matthew, we are taught that when we have a debt that needs to be paid that we should try to reconcile with the one to whom we owe the debt.  We will always end up suffering the consequences of the unresolved debt if we do not try to come to terms with our accuser.  We should try to come to terms with the accuser prior to going before the judge.  This passage is generally regarded as a teaching about how to handle conflict concerning civil matters. 

The same perspective can very easily be applied to sin in our lives.  It was necessary for Jesus to redeem us from our sin debt for there is not a space in heaven where the slightest sin is allowed.  It is our responsibility to come to terms quickly with the sin in our lives.  We must confess and ask forgiveness for every act for which we deserve to be accused and judged before the Throne of God.

Once we received Jesus as Our Savior, we found it generally easy to turn away from obvious and grievous sin.  It is probable, however, that as we matured in Christ that we found out that there were areas of sin in our lives that had been hardened prior to our renewal in Christ.  It is even more likely that we found and continue to find areas in our lives that are not necessarily sinful, but are separating us from the perfection that we will reach in heaven.   Be certain that this revealing process will continue with us until we breath our last breath.  Thank God that He is so merciful for it is through these struggles the He reinforces our dependence on Our Savior and He draws us closer to Himself and to the time that we will spend eternity with Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son to spare us from our sin debt.  We thank You for Your mercy as You see us struggle against sin in our lives.  We thank You for Your grace as You provide Your Holy Spirit to aid us in departing from our errant ways.  May Your countenance shine upon as we turn away from our old lives and learn to live according to Your kingdom principles here on earth.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.