I hope you have the kind of friend who would loan you some money if you got yourself in a pinch. Most of us probably have the kind of friend who would be willing to loan us a few hundred bucks if we were short on the rent this month, but I wonder, do you have the kind of friend who would clean out his bank account to help you out? Are you the kind of friend who would give your entire life savings to help out a buddy who was in trouble?
When you start talking about giving away your entire life savings, that takes this scenario to a whole new level. No matter what kind of friendship you have, I’m not sure how many people would be willing to empty their bank account for someone else… Even their closest family.
There’s not enough overtime to get out of this mess
Let me make the question even tougher on you- what if the mess your friend got in was their own fault? Now would you be willing to empty your life savings? Would you be willing to give away everything you’ve ever worked for to bail out a buddy who ruined his life through bad choices?
I’m trying to paint this very specific situation to put you on the spot. Would you bail your friend out if he was in a bad way, or would you expect him to work his way out of this mess? What if there wasn’t enough time in the day for him to get himself out of this mess? Would you step in and help? What if he or she couldn’t possibly get enough overtime hours to pay off the debt that he owed? Would you give up everything you owned to bail him out?
Needs someone with deep pockets
Don’t read into this scenario that I’m describing looking for a way out. I’m trying to demonstrate a scenario where the only way your friend can get out of this mess is if someone else with very deep pockets steps in and bails him out. I’m also trying to create the kind of scenario where there’s no way around it; if you bail your friend out, it’s going to cost you everything. I’m describing the scenario in this way because it really defines the limits of your friendship.
Really, this question is not so much about your bank account as it is about your love for your friend. How far does that love extend? How much would you be willing to give up for someone you love?
Would you make the loan?
Now I’m going to be honest with you… I’m not sure I have the kind of friendship with anyone that I would empty my life savings to bail them out. I’d like to think I would, but if I were totally honest with myself for just a few minutes, I’m not sure I have that kind of friendship.
The scenario describes all of us. The Bible makes it very clear that to commit sin makes us guilty of breaking the law of God. In Romans 2:12-13 the Bible declares that the law of God is the judge of our actions. No one can stand before God’s law and claim he’s never done wrong (Romans 3:23). That makes all human beings lawbreakers. That means that all of us have made a mess with our lives that we can’t clean up on our own. The Bible also describes that the payment for sin is death in Romans 6:23. This verse demonstrates exactly what I am trying to describe in this scenario today. The problem with sin is that in order for it to be paid off, someone is going to have to die. In order for someone to restore you to God after breaking one of his commandments, someone is going to have to die. Moreover, that someone must be sinless. In other words, someone who has never broken the law will have to pay the penalty for all of us who have broken the law of God. That someone can only be Jesus since he is the only sinless person to have ever lived (Hebrews 4:14-15).
Now the question becomes, is Jesus willing to pay the penalty for your mistake? Is Jesus willing to empty his life savings and pay it all to restore you to God? That question was answered clearly in Romans 5:7-8. It was while we were deepest in debt… It was at our worst moment… We were in total rebellion against God, and yet he sent his son Jesus to pay off our debt. Jesus was willing to give everything that he owns in order to restore you to his Father.
Let me return to my original question for just a second. Do you have the kind of friend who would clean out her bank account and empty her life savings to fix a mess you made? Here’s the answer -if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, he already has done that for you. If you haven’t surrendered your soul to Jesus Christ, maybe it’s time for you to do that today. You can turn it all over to him in the form of a simple prayer. Something like this:
God, I have broken your law. I understand that I can’t pay off my own sin debt. That’s why you sent your son Jesus to come pay that debt for me. Today, I turn from my sins and trust in Jesus’s death on the cross as payment for my sins. I’m asking you to change my soul, clean me up, and turn me into a new person. Jesus, I ask you to give me the power to live a pure life.
Those words are easy to say, but they don’t really mean anything with God unless you are sincere. If you sincerely surrendered to Jesus for the first time, would you please email us at cbc@calvaryministries.com?
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