A group of coal miners were waiting outside the wages office to... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23.

A group of coal miners were waiting outside the wages office to receive their pay packet for the week's work.

An elderly man stepped up to them and asked them, "Are you waiting for your wages?" They all nodded. "That is only right," he said, "for you have all done your work and truly earned your pay. But have you heard of another payment of wages that you would rather do without?" No-one answered. The elderly man took out his Bible, opened it and read, "The wages of sin is death."

He looked at the men and said, "Each one of us has sinned. Therefore God, who is just, must pay us our wages. Surely each of you would readily do without that pay packet, wouldn't you? And God also shows us how to do so: He offers us a gift of grace today. We cannot earn this gift; we can only accept it. But should we refuse it, He must pay us our wages. Isn't it better to accept God's gift than to earn the wages of sin, eternal death?" The man shut his Bible, nodded to the miners, turned round and disappeared.

Is it to be wages or a gift? That is the question. Are we to run open-eyed to get our wages from God, or shall we accept His gift? Whoever chooses the latter can know that "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).

Today's reading: Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 · Mark 5:1-14