For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his
poverty might become rich.
It was many centuries ago in a remote village in India.
Word began to spread that something was about to happen that no one had seen in
their lifetime the prince was coming to visit their forgotten little village.
Everyone was excited but no one was more excited than the
village beggar. Every day he eked out another day by sitting by the road with
his little cup, hoping to get enough money to buy the rice to live one more
day. He actually had two cups one for collecting money and one for his few
grains of rice. But now the prince was coming, the wealthy prince! When the
prince finally arrived, the beggar mustered his most impassioned appeal - Alms!
Alms for the poor! And the prince stopped. The beggar's heart was pounding
furiously.
Give me your cup of rice. That was all the prince said.
The beggar slumped down in disbelief. Here was the wealthiest man in the land,
asking for his lousy little cup of rice. The beggar was about to refuse, but
instead he reached in and he put three grains of rice in the prince's hand. The
prince turned to his servant and said, Bring me the bag of gold. The beggar
could hardly contain himself as he eagerly stretched out his empty collection
cup. The prince reached into his bag and placed three grains of gold in the
beggar's cup. And then he disappeared, never to return but leaving the beggar
to wonder for the rest of his life . . . what would have happened if I had
given him my whole cup of rice?
Jesus, the Prince of Heaven, may be passing your way
today with so much to give you. The forgiveness of every sin you've ever
committed . . . a new beginning . . . the peace that has eluded you your whole
lifetime . . . eternity with Him in heaven. He wants to make you spiritually
rich. In fact, it was very expensive for Him to be able to offer you the heaven
you don't deserve instead of the death penalty your sin does deserve. In our
Bible verse, God describes the unspeakable sacrifice
Jesus made to rescue you.
II Corinthians 8:9 says, You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ (that's undeserved love), that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. When
God's Son, Prince of Heaven, is hanging on that blood-stained cross, He is
totally impoverishing Himself so you can have God's love, God's resources,
God's heaven. It's hard for us to see that we are the beggar but the Bible says
we're spiritually bankrupt because our running of our own life, and that has
cut us off from our Creator. Only Jesus can bring us back. God says, When we
were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Your life is as big as you can make it and it's nowhere
near enough, is it? Jesus is passing by you today, asking you to turn over to
Him the life He died for. If you're ready to trade what you have for what Jesus
has, tell Him you're putting all your trust in Him today. Don't make the
eternal mistake of hanging onto your little cup of rice, and missing Jesus' bag
of gold.
Dear Jesus, Thank you that You have amazing things in
store for us. Help us give unto You freely. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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