I’ll admit that I am pretty ignorant about certain things mechanical with cars. One thing I am aware of, however, is that you don’t put diesel in an unleaded only car. I also have learned, through experience, that leaving gasoline in a tank over the winter tends to be a bad idea… unless you want to be very disappointed in the spring. If you don’t have the right and good fuel, your engine won’t run well.
Well, we are no different, really. In Romans 11:35-36, we read this:
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen (NIV).”
Notice that Paul calls out the obvious: we cannot pay God back. Everything is his, anyways.
Innocently, I have said, and have heard people say, “I owe such and such to God.” There is a danger here, however. Gratitude can be a double-edged sword. Yes, we ought to be grateful to God, however, if that gratitude turns the wrong way, it can be destructive in a few ways.
If we think we can pay God back, we are fooling ourselves. That contradicts the nature of a gift. Giving God X, Y, and Z seen as repayment will either make us think that we could do enough and even tip the scale so God “owes” us a favor or two after all of our “faithful service.”
Paying God back turns the relationship into a transaction. Yet that is not what God wants. He is not paying for our devotion, nor should we see our obedience to him as repayment for a debt. Anyways, it all belongs to God anyway.
I have tried to fuel my obedience to God with a militant effort. I reason, “I have messed up so many times that I must not mess up for a good length of time to pay my way back into God’s favor.” I have become so desperate for some reprieve of the weight of guilt that I subconsciously start to believe that because I haven’t messed up with some sin recently, I am back in God’s good favor. Yet, that is insulting to God to think that we could ever pay even part of the price that our sins deserved.
Say a teen was to go to the car dealership with his parents and to his surprise, was told that they were buying him a car. It was a gift. He just needed to take care of it and be responsible and all of that. But what if at the closing, the son says, “I want to pay for part of this too so that I can take some pride here,” and throws on the desk $1.27 in change and a partially used Subway gift card. What would the parents say? What would be the point? It would only be for boasting privileges and leverage against his parents if they ever recall their generous gift for him. He could say to them, “Well, you didn’t pay the full price for the car. I paid for part of it too!” Foolish.
Yes, we ought to be grateful but not out of a sense that we could ever repay God for what he has provided for us through Jesus. Rather, we ought to be faithful in our expectation that God’s grace will continue and this relationship will last into the future.
So, how is your fuel?