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NOT-SO-CHEAP BUY

Topics: Christ’s Sacrifice; Cross; Grace; Repentance; Sin

References: Luke 1:46–50; Romans 6:1–2; Hebrews 10:26–31; 1 Peter 1:17–19

I was in a store shopping for a sweater. The cost needed to be minimal, so I went to the clearance rack. As I flipped through the sweaters, one caught my eye. It was the right color and the right size, and, best of all, the price tag said $8. Without much more thought, I made my purchase.

At home I slipped on the sweater. Its texture was like silk. I had made my purchase so quickly that I hadn’t noticed how smooth and elegant the sweater was. Then I saw the original price tag: $124.

I gasped. I had never owned a sweater that expensive. I had come home with what I thought was a “cheap buy,” but the original price was much higher. And I had been oblivious to its value.

At times I have treated the power of Jesus’ blood like a cheap buy. God’s grace, though free to me, carried the highest price tag of all: the life of his own Son.

—Karen R. Morerod, “Lesson Learned from a Sweater,” Decision (November 1999)