Marika, our administrative righthand, works very, very hard, and I’m so grateful I could give her an increase. But what a shocker to see how much of the increase goes into her pocket and how much to the receiver of revenue.

Yes, I know we have to pay tax, but eish, it’s like paying a creditor. A creditor who doesn’t always provides the kind of service I want! But wait, I’m losing the thread of my story.

I wished I could say to her that she’ll be getting the whole increase and that I’ll pay the tax for her. And I kept on dreaming … what if someone comes to me or you and says he’ll pay our taxes for us every month? It doesn’t matter what you earn, he’ll go and pay at the receiver himself.

Wow, I’m sure that like me, you’ll jump as high as you can on hearing that. This creditor, who stands waiting every month and takes his portion of my money even before I get it. I’ll sleep easier, because I will have so much more to spend.

Sounds like heaven, hey?

In a way, that’s what Jesus came to do. But let’s make the sums before we get there. The sum total of all our sin is death. We have to pay with our lives. In other words, we have to pay with our lives when we die. We’re in debt and therefore, the devil is the big creditor to whom we owe our lives.

These are the sums of sin.

Fortunately, Jesus came and drew a line through this sum.

^14-15 Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.

Jesus died in our place. He was punished for our sins in our place. He took the one to whom we owed our lives out of the game. Jesus completely eliminated the big creditor from our lives and we owe him nothing!

What a blessing. Almost like my dream about the tax burden disappearing from my pay slip. But much bigger, because this blessing is about life and death.

Settling the account is obviously also much, much bigger. Jesus had to die. He had to sacrifice his life to have the payment approved by the Bank Manager.

That’ why we no longer need to fear death. Death’s sting is gone. The day we get there we can simply show the receipt: Paid!

Scripture
Hebrews 2:14-18

Reflection
Do you believe Jesus has conquered the devil?
Are you afraid to die?
How do you live Jesus’ victory?

Prayer
Jesus, I’m so grateful I no longer have to fear death. Thank you for having the courage to go through death. Please help me to live a life free from fear. Amen.