8 comes before 22

What would you do with £57.8 million?

On Saturday night the National Lottery Jackpot was at a record £57.8 million. It got me thinking about being gifted such a life changing sum of money. Never working again, never needing to earn a living. So I had a look online, and was reading an article that listed on average the top 10 best paid jobs in USA in 2015. The top 3 were as follows:

Surgeon - $352,220

Psychiatrist - $181,880

Physician (GP) - $180,180

High powered jobs. Big salaries. But the money doesn't come for free, it is earned. And although in our lives we need to work hard and earn a living, there is one thing that we don't need to earn. And it's worth remembering. Check out Genesis 6 and the story of Noah to catch my drift...

Verse 8 - But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.

Verse 22 - Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Noah didn't earn God's favour. He didn't work hard to gain God's trust. He didn't impress God, so that He would love him. Verse 8 comes before 22. Noah had done nothing at all yet. But God still loved him, still accepted him and still called him for service.

People think the Bible is a big rulebook. A list of do's and don't's. A manual for how to live if you want to get into Heaven. And if you don't tick all the boxes then God doesn't love you and you're going to Hell. But they couldn't be further from the truth. Christianity isn't about what we can do for Jesus, it's about what Jesus has already done for us. If you follow Jesus, you don't need to earn His love.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus

- Romans 3 v 23 - 24

We live in a world where it's all about making the grade. You need to achieve the best exam results, act a certain way, dress like this, look like that. It's all about what you do - there's no results unless you earn it. But it's worth taking a breath, and remembering that you don't need to earn anything from God. There's no pressure, because He already loves you. Whether you fail your exams or not. Whether you're on the sports team or not. Whether you're the most popular kid in class or not. Whether you earn the highest salary or not. God loves you.

As followers of Jesus, we should live a certain way and do certain things not because our salvation or relationship with God depends on it. God already loves us, and we can't work our way into Heaven. We don't go to church or read the Bible so that God will love us. We follow Jesus and live this way, because God already loves us. And He sent His son Jesus to die for us. For you too. Our belief should dictate our behaviour, not the other way around.

Religion says - "I obey therefore I am accepted by God."

The Gospel says - "I am accepted by God therefore I obey."

All you need to do is confess with your mouth and believe with your heart. Jesus already earned your freedom on the cross. 

Remember that 8 comes before 22.