"Paid in Full!"

Today my husband, Greg, logged into our mortgage company's website. After logging in, the following message appeared that read, "Paid in full."

A few years ago, I took a significant cut in pay after losing my job at a local charter school. We lost about 20% of our income. This year, after God called me to leave teaching, I took another 15% cut in pay to work as an instructional designer.

We have not lived paycheck to paycheck in a long time but things have been a little tight around here. Unable to purchase other things outside our normal budget, Greg recently talked about working a part-time job. After how quickly I saw our 18-year-old leave home, I did not give my blessing toward this idea. I want Greg to spend quality time with our 16-year-old before he leaves home in a few years.

Instead, Greg and I discussed paying off our mortgage so we could have a little extra breathing room financially. He came to me last week saying, "Let's do it! I think we should take our savings and put it all on the house. Either we're walking by faith or stupidity."

Of course, I agreed. Not that we were walking in stupidity but to pay off the house leaving us with zero debt.

To know that our house is paid off, and that we don't owe anymore money on student loans, credit cards, car payments, bedroom suites, appliances, etc. etc. etc. is so refreshing. It definitely brings a sense of peace in our household and took a huge weight off our shoulders.

Today, I thought about another debt of mine (and yours) that has been paid in full. When you read through the Book of Genesis, you can see how God provided everything for Adam and Eve while they lived in the Garden of Eden.

Because of greed and their desire to want more, Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; the one tree God commanded they avoid. This decision to disobey God affected us all. We are all born into a sinful nature (Romans 3:23). God knew the only way to save us from this sin would be for His Son to die on the cross which is why He created Jesus from the beginning (John 17:5).

Jesus shed His blood for us so that we might live with Him in a place called Heaven. This gift of salvation is offered to us freely if we choose to acknowledge that we are sinners, believe that Christ died for our sins, and confess that we are a sinner in need of a Savior.

If you have questions about the saving grace of Jesus Christ, feel free to contact me. I would love to see you, my sister, in Heaven face-to-face. ~ Whit