Making Up the Difference

Have you ever paid a bill late or missed a very important deadline? Have you ever applied for a job and didn’t quite meet all the requirements? Have you ever tried to buy a house, and just didn’t have all the paperwork and finances needed to close the deal? Well, I have experienced every single one of these things. If you are reading this, chances are you too can relate to times where you came up short and needed help to make up the difference. 

This may not always be a popular opinion, but the reality is that sometimes we don’t meet standards. Sometimes we make bad decisions with our finances or health, etc. When we are sincere about needing help, it’s a blessing if someone steps in and makes up the difference. 

My mind goes back to a time when my little one discovered a basket filled with little knick-knacks in the living room while I was on the opposite side of the large room. I came back to her crying and covered with all the items that fell from the basket she had tipped over. 

Needless to say, she made a huge mess. But she didn’t know any better. And certainly, if she had known it would end that way, she might not have ever touched it. But I came in and removed all the items, cleaned up the mess, and comforted her, so she’d know that she wasn’t left to figure it out alone. I was right there. 

In the book of Hebrews, the Word tells us that under the old covenant, the priests offered sacrifices that could never take away sins. So, God gave us a better covenant with better promises, all because Jesus offered Himself up to God as a single sacrifice, once and for all! Jesus made up the difference:

For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. (Hebrews 10:14-18 NLT)

When we cry out to Him for help and receive His sacrifice, we qualify for this new covenant—or, simply put—“His promise.” We couldn’t do anything to earn it, but God loved us so much that He gave His Son Jesus to be a gift to all who would freely receive. 

Will you join me in thanking God for how He provided for us and cleaned up our mess? I am so grateful I don’t have to figure things out on my own; He has provided the answer, and the answer is Jesus. May your lives forever be changed by the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.