“Jesus paid it all.”

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. – Romans 8:1

A block away from Times Square in New York City is a billboard-sized stack of numbers advancing at a rapid clip. It is the National Debt Clock and is constantly updated to show the current United States national debt. Worse, it shows each American’s share of the debt. As of noon on March 1, not even three weeks ago, your share was $82,432.99; or per household $213,501.45 — and that was before the passage of the latest stimulus package that added trillions to the new total. If the government came collecting from your family today, it would probably be for you as it would for 90 percent or more of the American population: impossible.

It is an enormous financial debt. But each person, each household, in America or anywhere else on Earth, has another unpayable debt, a spiritual one. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to say, “Forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12). If sin is a debt you owe to Heaven, how big would your number be? And could you pay for it? Max Lucado wrote, “The algebra of heaven reads something like this: Heaven is a perfect place for perfect people, which leaves us in a perfect mess.”

Colossians 2:13-14 says, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” You couldn’t pay for it.

A hymn written a century and a half ago states it perfectly, “Jesus paid it all.” And “all” means every last cent! Thank Him for this incredible gift today.