“Last week,” Stan began, “I ordered a new coffee maker online. It arrived the other day.”
“Good one?” I asked.
“No,” was Stan’s one-word reply. “I don’t know what’s wrong with it, but it makes terrible coffee. I’m going to send it back.”
“That’s always a hassle,” I said. “Too bad.”
“No hassle this time,” Stan replied. “I contacted the online seller and it sent everything I need to send the coffee maker back without charge. They will have a carrier pick it up and get it back to the seller. Not only do I not have to pay anything to return it, I don’t even have to package it up. I just need to give the carrier the return label with the coffee maker. Everything else is taken care of.”
“That sounds like great service,” I replied.
“It certainly is,” Stan said, “and it reminds me of the special delivery I have been provided by God.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“The apostle Paul mentions this at the beginning of his letter to the church in Galatia,” Stan said. “Paul points out that Jesus gave Himself for our sins so that He might deliver us out of this present evil age.”
“And,” Stan continued, “on the cross, through his finished work, Jesus paid the price for this delivery. Pre-paid special delivery! And it’s not just for when my time here is done and I step into eternity to be with God forever. No, it is for this side of eternity as well, as I draw ever closer to God by knowing Him and His Son.”
“Delivered out of this present evil age,” I repeated. “By pre-paid special delivery. Sounds like a very good thing to me.”
“It is, my friend,” Stan replied. “A very good thing! All that is needed is that it be accepted as the free gift it is.”
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. Galatians 1:3, 4.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your provision of the free gift of salvation to spend eternity with you when it is time. And thank you for delivering me out of this present evil age, all through the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross. Thank you for those who brought me to the truth of your pre-paid special delivery that was available simply by my accepting it. I want to be involved in all you want in helping others to see and to accept that truth. Please help me in following your lead in everything you have for me to be and to do on this side of eternity while I wait to step on to the train to be with you forever. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Waiting for the Train 