MikeOharaLive the intersection of faith and life

Buffalo Bills wide receiver, Steve Johnson, dropped a game-winning pass a couple Sundays ago when playing the Pittsburgh Steelers.  After the game, the upset football player tweeted this to God:
I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO...

Apparently, God owed Johnson the touchdown catch because Johnson praises God all the time.  It seems comical at first, but Johnson's tweet does reflect a common belief about man's relationship to God.  It's a belief that if I do good things then God owes me a good life. In Johnson's case, he says he praises God "24/7" (a good thing) and in return God should have helped him catch the pass (a good life).

The problem with this belief is we put God into our debt; that is, God owes us a good life if we do the appropriate good thing.  The truth is, because of sin we are the debtors.  Scripture tells us that the payment for sin is death, and that there is no way we could ever repay what we owe. Sure, we try to repay our debt.  We try to love people, live good lives, recycle our bottles, vote, and use our blinkers on the freeway, but in the end, our good works can never pay off our debt.

This is why we need a Savior, one who was willing to pay our debt for us with his life.  Jesus paid our debt by going to the cross and dying for our sins; not because we deserved it, but because of his grace.  Our debt has been paid in full, the collectors don't call anymore,  our account has been replenished, we are "whole" and in right standing.

Our response to this incredible gift is to put faith in Christ and to praise him for his generosity and grace.  Let's remember, we praise him because of what he did for us, and because we want Him, not because we want something from Him.