We get what we pay for

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

You ever heard that saying, "Ya get what ya pay for..."? I am sure you have. I want to relate that to this post. We all have this collective mindset that we are going to Heaven. By we I mean we as human beings. No one wants to think about satan or hell. By having these comical movies about ghost and raising the question if hell or satan is even real can be very life threatening. Some people think he is some mythical creature and think hell is some made up place like the North Pole both of these are false. God tells us that He will throw satan in the lake of fire once Jesus returns in Revelation 20:10. I say that to explain that how we live determines where our end destination will be eternally. Just like how we choose to live effects our natural state as far as getting a job, going to school, etc...our spiritual state works the same way. Although we all want to go to Heaven many of us are not which is also in The Word in Matt. 7:13-14. So, just like the popular phrase states, we get what we pay for in a sense. The leading scripture above which talks about how we basically earned what we paid for because the price of a life of sin is death twice. What is dying twice? First dying naturally and entering into hell which is the second death, a life of torture and misery. Thank God for a BUT! Anytime God inserts a but it means that there is Hope and Mercy on the other side of the verse. So it ends BUT the GIFT of God is eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Lord. See the difference? But the GIFT, a gift meaning something that was GIVEN to us. After the but is simply talking about salvation. Why do you think God added, "...in Christ Jesus our Lord." when He already stated Himself giving The Gift? He added it because people thought and still do think we can enter Heaven without acknowledging Jesus. He wanted to be clear that the ONLY way to receive salvation is through Christ and He is the reason we can inherit life everlasting.

Speaking of Heaven we had a solider called to the army this past week, her name was Maya Angelou. In honor of her death I want to end with a personal poem since she was a great black poet! They say you get what you pay for, but God has already paid what we couldn't afford. Don't be mislead or get it misconstrued. Hell is real don't be fooled. Especially knowing Jesus died for you to live in Heaven with Him and the angels. Don't find yourself in hell tangled, with the regrets like the rich man. You get what you pay for and Jesus already paid for your sins!