Wrestling For The Bill

It's probably happened to many of us. You go out to lunch or dinner with a friend. You have a great time laughing, talking, eating, and drinking. And then the server brings the bill to your table. Even before the bill is placed on the table, you both reach out your hand to take it from the server. Your friend is able to put his hand on it first, but you grab the other end of the bill anyway. You both look at each other and smile, knowing a tug of war over this piece of paper is about to begin. 

"I got. Don't worry about it." he insists. 

"No, I got it this time. My treat." you respond. 

"No really. It's fine. I already planned ahead for it." your friend says, holding his ground. 

It becomes obvious to you. One person will have to be the humble reciever while the other pays the bill. In that moment, you wonder what's harder: to pay the bill, or humbly receive?

Your friend reaches out his other hand and places it on the check and your hand. He looks at you and smiles and says, "The truth is, I paid for this meal in advance. This paper is not a bill, it's my receipt."

***

God invites us to dine daily with Him. (He is so eager to fellowship with us!) And though we may come and enjoy every moment with Him, we may still feel an obligation to 'pay for it' in someway. But every time we come, He reassures us that there is nothing we need to do to earn it or 'pay into it'. We may begin to realize that simply receiving can be the hardest thing we ever do in our relationship with Him.

Let God foot the bill in your life. Stop trying to pay for it yourself. The price is more than you can even afford anyway. Simply receive what God has said and humbly receive the Word planted in your heart. He not only can afford to pay the bill, He has already paid it! There is nothing more that you can even contribute. Just a simply "thank you" will do.