Usually when a contract is breached, neither party needs to fulfill their part in the terms of that contract. For example, a babysitter who doesn’t show up doesn’t need to be paid. And the invoices from a contractor who never builds the house can be ignored. Renters who don’t pay the rent can be evicted.

But God is very different from us humans. Even when His children totally ignored their obligations in His fantastic covenant, He still held up His end of the bargain. Not only that, He attached an addendum that said His son Jesus would meet our obligations for us. That is crazy generous.

Imagine that God commissioned me to paint a picture. He agreed to pay me more than I could ever dream of earning. We both signed a contract. He bought the canvas and the paint, even the easel. All I had to do was sit down and paint. But instead I watched TV, went to parties with my friends, slept… I did whatever I wanted and ignored the easel. Several deadlines came and went, and God was angry.

Then one day His Son showed up saying God had sent Him. He painted the most beautiful picture on my canvas. He gave it to me to sign as if it were my painting. He said I could give that to God thus fulfilling my commitment and repairing our relationship.

That’s not the way things work here on earth. But that’s how God operates with His children because He loves us so much. He is righteous and faithful beyond anything we experience in the human realm.

“For in [the Gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.”(Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭17,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

I can trust God to keep His end of our bargain. And He has done everything to make sure I can hold up my end too, by sending Jesus to do it for me. I just need to turn in my painting, with faith, when He returns.

Dear God,

It is amazing that you didn’t just throw us all out and start over when we turned out to be so lousy at keeping our promises. I’m so grateful you didn’t. Thank you for making it possible to be saved despite my failing, to be saved by faith in Jesus instead of my character or behavior.