I was reading a Facebook post the other day in our local community information group. The young mom was hoping that the person who blessed her family that night would see it. Apparently she and her young kids were out to dinner and when she asked for the bill, her server told her, “It’s paid in full!” When she questioned it, she was told that a family dining nearby asked the server to let them pay for her dinner without letting her know and slipped out before she finished her meal. Obviously moved by the kind and unexpected gesture, she posted her tearful “thank you!” in hopes it would reach the eyes of her unknown neighbor. It inspired others to action.

Paid in full.

What emotions that phrase evokes in us. The idea that a debt was owed and now it’s not. Whether it is from finally paying off that big debt like a school or car loan or eventually your house or having something like this happen unexpectedly. Today it actually happened to me and I wanted to share my story.

Since moving out West and taking a huge step of faith by taking a sabbatical from work, we’ve made some tough decisions financially in order to make ends meet. Our lives look very different than it did when we were working and running the restaurant and catering business, as well as my personal training and healthy meal business. One of those sacrifices was choosing a type of medical share plan for our health needs. For the most part it helped with our needs but after several very expensive tests were ordered that we were told fell into the realm of this plan, we found out they did not. To the tune of $9000. And for months and months we’ve been working with the facility and share plan to find a solution. We were given wrong information but despite that error on their part, the bills kept coming in. We finally appealed to someone higher in the organization and today when I received the new lower bill for $3000, I was relieved but still concerned. I called the facility with the intention of making a really, really long payment plan but the kind lady on the phone was confused. So I gave her the whole long story. Turns out it wasn’t that she didn’t understand what had happened, she was wondering why I’d call to make a payment plan because, in her words, the bill was paid in full.

Apparently, not long after the most recent bill was sent out, the higher ups decided to credit the account to pay it in full. Just to paint the scene for you, my two granddaughters are fighting at my feet, because where else do small children go the minute they see you on the phone??! One is screaming that the other one hurt her feelings and I’m gesturing wildly for them to calm down so I can hear the lady on the phone as she’s trying to talk above the noise. “Mrs. Henderson, your bill is paid in full!” Tears are running down my face and I knew in that moment, how that young mom felt as she wrote that Facebook post. Gratitude, disbelief, relief, joy.

And then it hit me. An earthly benefactor had mercy on me, compassion over my situation and declares that my debt is paid in full and I’m reduced to tears. A debt I could not pay without sacrifice and not for a very, very long time. I’d have to work to pay it off, little by little.

What struck my heart was realizing that the greatest mercy and compassion shown to me and to you and to us all was what Jesus endured on the cross.

We owed a debt that could never be paid. All of our sins. Every one that we have ever committed, will ever commit, every sinful thought, every awful word and every single wretched action. All of it covered by His blood. In God’s infinite love for us, while we could not pay, while we were in this debt, while we could do nothing to earn it, Christ died for us. The ultimate act of love and mercy was given to us. It covered my sins past, present and future. How can this be?

Surely we will have to make a payment plan and work this debt of sin off, right? So many of us believe that this is the case. And we strive to show God and others that we don’t expect a free ride. That would be too easy. Grace is a gift of so much value, so much worth, there’s no way that we could just be given it freely. But we miss that the very definition of grace is unmerited favor.

In the case of the young mom at the restaurant, she seemingly did nothing to earn the gracious gift. In my case, I certainly did nothing to deserve such a generous act. If I were foolish or prideful, I’d reject the free gift and work off the debt even though it was paid in full.

And most definitely, none of us can ever say that we deserve grace or have earned it in even the smallest way. All the mom could do, all that I could do was to accept it graciously. The same can be said of God’s ultimate gift. We fall into dangerous territory when we mistakenly believe that if we live up to some list of dos and don’ts we deserve God’s love. It puts us on the same level playing field as Jesus and the thought of that should shake us to our core. I was humbled today to accept the pardon granted me but nothing compares to the humility and awe I feel when I think of my dirty sins being taken on by my gracious Savior. The King of heaven, the Lord of glory and the Name above all names taking my place on that scornful cross, an emblem of shame. It’s a sacrifice that brings me to my knees but makes me raise my hands in surrender all at the same time. Humility coupled with celebration. I am free because of this gift and so are you if you will accept it.

I’d love for this blog post to spur a love in you for your neighbor and inspire you to go and do some wonderful gesture but what I want most is for this to bring you hope that you are not forgotten, that Jesus was sent by His Father to rescue you when you were lost in your sin. But most of all to remind you that once you accept this free gift of grace, your debt is paid in full!