In Decision magazine some time ago, Karen Morerod wrote about shopping in a store for a sweater. She was looking for one at minimal cost, so she went to the clearance rack. As she flipped through the sweaters, one caught her eye. It was the right color and the right size, and best of all, the price tag was marked $8.00. Without much more thought, Karen made her purchase.

At home she slipped on the sweater. Its texture was like silk. She had made her purchase so quickly that she hadn’t noticed how smooth and elegant the sweater was. Then she saw the original price tag: $124.00! Karen writes, "I gasped. I had never owned any clothing of that value. I had come home with what I thought was a 'cheap buy,' but the original price was quite high. I had been oblivious to its value."

Then Karen concludes her article with these words: "Just as with my sweater, I have often treated the power of Jesus’ blood like a 'cheap purchase.' [God’s] grace, though free to me, carried a high price tag â€" the life of his very own Son."

I often have conversations with people who ask me to pray for God’s blessings upon their life, but what is interesting is that they continue disobeying God’s Word and fulfilling their own desires, yet expect God to bless them anyway. What they don’t realize, perhaps, is that we will reap the consequences of what we sow. If we intentionally choose to live in disobedience to God, let us not be alarmed when things don’t go as well as we planned. God tells us in today’s Scripture to be holy just as He is holy. Many times, we focus on the impossible task of being holy in these imperfect bodies, however when we put our focus on the fact that HE is holy and HIS Spirit lives in us, we realize that we were never meant to do this alone. It may be difficult to leave old habits behind when we come to know Christ, but if we truly want to experience God’s blessings in our lives, we must die to our flesh and allow Christ to live in and through us. When we realize the price God paid to set us free from a wasted life, we can’t help but want to live lives worthy of such love. Once we live a life in obedience to God, trusting Him, only then can we really experience the joy of His Salvation through Jesus.

Suggested prayer: Dear God, forgive me for the times I have taken your gift of Salvation for granted. When I think of the true price that Jesus paid in my place, I want nothing more than to live a life worthy of that sacrifice. I pray that you allow me to die to my desires, so that your Spirit can guide me into the holiness you have called me to. Help me to live in obedience to your Word so that I can experience the incomparable joy of a personal relationship with you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name, amen.

1. 1 Peter 1:14-19 (NLT).

2. Karen R. Morerod, "Lesson Learned from a Sweater," Decision, November 1999, p. 39. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, The Holiness of Grace, 4/29/2011.

Today's Encounter was written by: Crystal B.