The Tribute of Devotion

Everything we do on this earth is done in vain if we are doing it to earn our salvation. When we lose sight of this reality, we are in peril. Everything we do on this earth cannot earn our salvation. Being a good person or a good man of God doesn’t satisfy the wrath of God. The wrath of God is not quenched by our filthy rags of righteousness. The wrath of God is only quenched in Christ. The only thing we can do is place our faith in Christ — and even that is a gift from above.

When I am at the end of my days and I look back upon my life, no matter what great thing, no matter how small or how large, how wide or how deep, it is my dear hope that I will recognize this great reality: that although none of what I had lived for the Lord was in vain, none of it was valued at the same price that must be paid for my sin. The price that must be paid could not be paid by me. I am indebted to the One who released me from my debt.

Jesus says in Luke 17:10: “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” At the end of our days, when we realize the time to meet our Savior face to face is near, we must hold on to the truth that all we have done was our duty. It could not pay back the grace of the Lord. This is the tribute of devotion: those things we do in servanthood to the Lord are done out of gratefulness, not out of expiation.

Jake Campbell