The Cost

We have a tradition at Christmas that we started a few years ago. Joyce makes everyone new pajama pants and we wear them with a t-shirt of our choice all day on Christmas. It is again that time of year and we are all picking out our flannel for the pants. Joyce told me that she had found the perfect one for me so one afternoon we were off to the fabric store. She was right. It was black with deer heads and I liked it.

We took the fabric to the counter and they measured out three yards. There was only another three-fourths of a yard left so Joyce said she would take it and they told her she would get an end of the bolt discount. The attendant punched in the numbers and on her screen was a total of 3375.000 yards at $5.99 a yard for a grand total of $20,216.25! The machine quietly and automatically added the numbers to the paper receipt along with the words, “Reason: End of Bolt Discount.”

Joyce looked at the screen and said, “Ummmm…ma'am, I think there is a mistake. I only wanted 3 yards of flannel for pajama pants. That's rather high…”

She then looked at me, laughed, and said, “I love you honey, but not that much.”

We have all had a good laugh as we shared this story with our friends. Some have asked for pajama pants for their families. We could clothe everyone we know with that amount of cloth! Others have said it was a good thing we got the discount. I thought about it later and remembered the words of a chorus:

“He paid a debt He did not owe;
I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And, now, I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing Grace.”
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

(Ellis J. Crum)

Paul said: “He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors…” (Romans 8:11b-12a NKJV)

Jesus looks at our sin debt and He does not laugh or dispute the cost. Jesus loves us that much and more.

Bro. Robin