In 2012, I stumbled onto an amazing online article about – get this – Germany finally paying off its war debt. Think that’s amazing? Well, hang on; the article was referring to Germany’s *First World War* debt.
According to The Local, a German online newspaper, the final payment, about $94 million, was handed over in 2010 to private investors. Those investors held bonds issued by the German government many decades ago to help pay for damages the victorious Allies charged Germany after the First World War ended in 1918.
That initial bill? A stunning 132 billion Deutsche Marks, or 89 billion Canadian dollars. Does that sound onerous? Well, in today’s world, a comparable figure is more than $200 billion. Yikes.
At the time, the cost was crippling to the German economy and that’s just how the bitter Allies wanted it, in part to ensure Germany could never recover enough to re-arm and start another war. No comment is needed on the success of that policy.
But something did strike me as comment-worthy and that’s the comparison with my life and yours.
Like it or not, we’ve all done wrong somewhere, sometime in our lives. In fact, I’ve dropped the ball more often than National Hockey League star Sidney Crosby scores goals.
Like it or not, there’s a penalty to be paid for all those bad things you and I have done or, just as important, the good things we haven’t done. And that penalty is far worse than what was forced on Germany. Even 90 years of payments wouldn’t be enough to get rid of it.
I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do, when this life ends, is look God in the face and try to avoid that debt by conjuring up a pile of believable excuses. It’s just one reason why I decided to follow Jesus of Nazareth. And it’s a good reason for you to consider it.
People like me believe Jesus is God’s Son and He died for all the wrong things we did and for all the right things we failed to do. When we believe in Jesus and claim Him as our savior, the penalty is wiped off the books. He paid it for us.
I found this proof in a letter written by a man who had a life-changing spiritual encounter with Jesus: “If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won’t be punished. God’s Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death.”
That sounds pretty good to me. So, are you thinking about how to rationalize your misdeeds? Or does it make more sense to join folks like me, claim Jesus for yourself and walk away from a German-sized debt?
Frank's Cottage 