The High Cost of Forgiveness Subscribe to the Devotional

This week's focus: Forgiveness

Years ago, I got pulled over for speeding. Hoping the officer would show me mercy, I calmly explained that he should give me a warning since I was only speeding a little. Not impressed with my admission of only breaking the law a little, he handed me a citation.

Sad that I got a ticket, I was lamenting to a friend about my fine when he surprised me by saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll cover it for you.” Not expecting this selfless gesture, I told him no since I was the one who got the ticket, but he insisted. I realized later that my debt was forgiven but at the expense of another.

His kindness made me think of the high price Jesus paid on our behalf. In unfathomable love, Jesus covered a fine we could never pay so God the Father could dismiss our case. Salvation is a free gift but not cheap; Jesus purchased it at a tremendous expense. Luke 22:44 gives us a glimpse of the high cost of His sacrifice when it says, “… being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”

I’ve been scared, anxious, stressed, and overwhelmed at different times in my life but never to the point where I sweat blood. The anticipation of suffering a painful death on a cross overwhelmed Him, but it didn’t alter His commitment to press on—all to save us.

The courage Jesus displayed to stay the course in God’s plan is the ultimate proof of His love for us. Justice and mercy met at the cross— God’s justice demanded that our sin be punished and not overlooked; God’­­s mercy allowed Jesus to take our place.

“Yet it was our pain that He bore, our sufferings He endured. We thought of Him as stricken, struck down by God and afflicted, But He was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by His wounds we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, all following our own way; But the Lord laid upon Him the guilt of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)

Because of His sacrifice, all who repent and put their faith in Jesus are no longer considered guilty but forgiven. Only a mighty Savior can turn our tears of repentance over what we did into tears of joy over what He did.

Billy Graham once said, “God proved His love on the cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.”

He doesn’t just love us a little; He loves us beyond all comprehension.

by: Jennifer McAlister, Communications, My Faith Votes