I love the end of the movie "National Treasure." One of my favorite lines is when the FBI agent asks Ben Gage what he wants for finding the treasure and he says, "I would really, really like to not go to prison." The agent answers, "Somebody's gotta go to prison." In essence, there was a crime that had been committed, and somebody had to pay a price. It reminds me of Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death." Somebody has to pay back sin with a death.
I've started reading Leviticus. It doesn't exactly read like a John Grisham novel. It's a tough read and can be repetitive. However, the message of book in the first few chapters is clear. Sin required a sacrifice. Lambs, goats, bulls and such had to die when people sinned. And they had to be flawless. They had to be the best goats, bulls and lambs.
Listen, I don't know why things are this way. I didn't make up the rules. I do know that sin has made me experience little deaths inside. I've experienced that. And I know I most definitely DO NOT want to have to pay the price for all my sin. I would really, really like to not go to prison, so to speak. But somebody's got to pay.
That's Jesus. Do we really get that? Jesus stepped in and paid the penalty for our sin so we wouldn't have to. Gracious, if I really got that, wouldn't I go all out for Jesus? Wouldn't I give Him everything? Wouldn't I live my life as a thanksgiving offering to Him? I'm not sure we really get it. We say we do, but we live our lives nonchalantly. We didn't have to pay. This Christmas, you'll get lots of gifts you didn't have to pay for. None will compare to this gift of Jesus. Live into that gift.
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