The Gift Is Better Than The Wages

Alba 10-3-2021

THE GIFT IS BETTER THAN THE WAGES

Romans 6:23

Sin. There is that word again. It dogs us, it tempts us, and it uses us and tears us down. It is like a virus that doesn't go away. Sin is the virus that has infected the whole human race – there is no human cure for it and there is no vaccine.

There is trouble in this world. As the old saying goes, "It doesn’t take a rocket scientist" to figure out that something is desperately wrong with the human race. And it is called sin.

Sin is much like a dandelion, you can fight it your whole life and it tends to spring up again and again. Sin also works like the plant, Kudzu. So what is Kudzu?

It is a vine that when left uncontrolled will eventually grow over almost any fixed object in its proximity including other vegetation. Kudzu, over a period of several years will kill trees by blocking the sunlight.

It is native to Japan and southeast China. It was first introduced to the United States during the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 where it was touted as a great ornamental plant for its sweet-smelling blooms and sturdy vines.

And as an example of the wisdom of our government entities, from the 1930s through the 1950s, the United States Soil Conservation Service promoted it as a great tool for soil erosion control and was planted in abundance throughout the south.

Little did they know that kudzu is quite a killer, overtaking and growing over anything in its path. It grows up to a foot per day.

It is known as "Mile-a-minute" and "The vine that ate the South".

This creeping, climbing perennial vine terrorizes native plants all over the southeastern United States, and is making its way into the Midwest, Northeast, and even Oregon.

Kudzu grows out of control quickly and out-competes everything from native grasses to fully mature trees.

Kudzu looks innocent enough but the invasive plant easily overtakes not only trees, but also abandoned homes and telephone poles causing a loss of plants, insects and animals.

They say that over time, these effects of habitat loss can lead to species extinctions and a loss of overall biodiversity. To control the plant the vines have to be cut near the ground and then carefully treated with one of a variety of herbicides.

They also say that the best way to deal with Kudzu and other invasive plants is to prevent them from spreading or they will kill everything in their path. The same thing is true about sin.

The problem is that sin looks innocent enough, but it also kills. Romans 6:23 says it, For the wages of sin is death.

But there's another problem. Sin is fun... for a season. Sin is always fun for a season. And sin is like eating a potato chip. You can't eat just one. One sin leads to another sin! Sin is addictive.

But eventually “the wages of sin is death.”

A wage is something that is earned. It is a payment for services rendered. Think about what it would be like the next time you went into work to get paid, the boss told you that he had decided not to pay you for the past month.

You would demand your pay because you had earned that money! It is what is owed to you. You earned your wages and expect to receive them.

My dad told be about something that happened when he was a teenager. He and his father worked with the haying crew.

It was back long enough ago when horses pulled the wagons and the hay bails had to be picked up and thrown onto the wagon by hand. It was hard work, and dad worked as hard as anyone.

He told me that when it came time to be paid, his father went to pick up the money, and my dad didn't get any. He was treated very unfairly. It changed him and made him very cautious about money after that.

When my father died, he had some savings about which my mother had no knowledge. He just didn't trust others in that area of his life. He had been treated wrongly! It was unfair that he did not receive the fruit of his labor. And he didn't want it to happen again.

How would you feel? How would you feel if you had worked at something and expected to be paid for your work. But then someone else took what was supposed to be yours?

The Word of God says that because of our sin, we have earned punishment. “The wages of sin is death.”

Those are wages I would just as soon that someone else would take instead of me. And that is just what Jesus did.