Casandra Martin

They sit in a stack on the desk. Taking a deep breath, the bill paying process begins. Pen in hand, checks are written, on-line bill paying instructions given, calculator keys punched, and the grand total is recorded. Stamps are licked and envelopes sealed. Finally, the bills are paid. For a brief moment, everything is paid in full.

Even in the moment when the balance says “paid in full”, we can look around and know that we will face this task again soon. We are using electricity even as we pay the electric bill. The dishwasher hums, using water for which we will receive a bill next month. Even as we pay our bills, the debts accrue. Paid in full is a temporary state.

Paying bills gives me an insight into the depth of what Jesus has done for me. Paying bills is similar to the sacrifices offered month after month, year after year by the Israelites. Necessary to meet the moment, but incapable of ever making us debt free. Hebrews 10:1 says, “For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifice repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” No matter how many times they paid, there was always more that was owed.

Jesus changed everything. He paid the bill. He bore the cost for my debt. He settled the account. Going to the cross took care of my debt in a way I could never do for myself. My debt is gone. The past is paid for. The present is redeemed. The future is clear and unencumbered. The weight of sin has been lifted off my heart. “Paid in full” is my reality in Christ.

“But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. …By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” – Hebrews 10:12, 14

His one perfect sacrifice paid a lifetime of debts. His journey to the cross covered a bill that had chained my heart to death. No more worrying about how to make ends meet. No more fear or shame upon realizing that this month just put me more in the hole. My future is defined by God’s dreams rather than my debt.

My Jesus Resolution today is to look at my bills differently. Every time I write a check, I am going to stop and thank Jesus for paying my debt. Every bill is going to remind me of what I owe and focus my attention on the One who paid it all. Today when I get a bill in the mail, I am going to smile as I rejoice in the truth that Jesus wrote “paid in full” across my heart.