What Does Sin Cost?

By Susan Dollyhigh –

“What does a gallon of gas cost?” the pastor asked the little ones gathered around him for children’s church.

Little hands shot into the air. A brown-haired boy answered with great confidence, “Seventy-five dollars.” The congregation laughed softly.

A blond-haired lad called out, “Eighty dollars!” and as if in a bidding war, a freckle-faced little guy upped his answer to one hundred dollars.

Then a wise spectacled-boy calmly answered, “Three dollars a gallon.”

“Very good.” The pastor leaned back on the step he was sitting on. “Okay. How much does a shirt cost at Target?”

“Fifty dollars,” a little girl with pigtails said.

The blond-haired lad decided to try his answer of eighty dollars again.

The pastor declared that the price of shirts had gone up since he last shopped at Target. “Okay let me ask you this, what would happen if I didn’t pay my water bill?”

With wide eyes, little pigtail girl said, “You could go to jail.”

Wise spectacled-boy announced, “They will cut off your water.”

“Yes, I guess both of those things could happen,” the pastor said. “Okay here’s another one, what does sin cost?”

Without even raising her hand, a little brunette who’d remained silent whispered just loud enough to be heard, “Your life. Sin costs you your life.”

The pastor blinked in surprise. “That’s right. The Bible tells us that the cost of our sin is death, but the Bible also tells us that our bill has already been paid. Who do you think paid that bill?”

“Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” the boys and girls shouted.

“Jesus paid the bill for everyone,” little pigtail girl said, then raising her chin, “even cats.”

“The Church is always one generation short of extinction, if our generation fails to guard the truth and entrust it to our children, then that will be the end!” Warren Wiersbe

This Thanksgiving season, I’m thankful for Jesus. I’m thankful that He paid the cost of my sin the day He died on the cross. I’m also thankful that the church seems safe from extinction for another generation. I pray these children will grow up and guard and entrust the truth to their children, ensuring the survival of the church of Christ.

Bible Verse: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NIV).

Prayer: Father, thank You for all your many blessings. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You for parents who guard and entrust the truth to their children. Amen.