this is what one million dollars looks like

this is what one million dollars looks like

Which would have the greater impact on your life right now?

1. Knowing that someone deposited $1 million into your bank account yesterday.

2. Knowing that someone will deposit $1 million into your bank account at an undetermined date in the future.

If you’re like me, chances are knowing that someone deposited money into your bank account yesterday (that is, it has already happened) would have a greater impact on your life today. After all, not having the money until some date in the future is not particularly helpful to you at this very moment.

It is this exact paradigm that exists in our lives. Christians struggle with this. I know many Christians who believe that Jesus indicated that we’ll be “saved” at some point in the future if we do a certain list of things. The trouble with this thinking is that it neglects a fundamental word choice that Jesus made. You see, when Jesus was talking about “salvation”, he used the past tense: “saved”. Not “will be saved” but “are saved”.

It’s the difference between saying “You will be a millionaire” and “You are a millionaire.” Basically the same words, but the impact on your life is tremendously different. In one instance, you can spend the money and in the other you can’t.

Jesus wanted us to know that we can already “spend” God’s love, grace, and salvation. We already have it in the bank. This is probably different from what you may have been told. I like to think of it as the best worst kept secret in all of Christianity–perhaps all of religion. It is why the message of Jesus is so life-transforming and so often misinterpreted. I’m not sure why some people hold on to the idea that salvation has to be earned. I hear Christians tell me in one breath that Jesus already saved me and then in the next breath, they tell me that I still need to be saved. This has never made sense to me. In fact, it makes less than no sense to me; it is absurd.

Which brings me to the point: did you know that you already have God’s love in your life? Did you know that God already gave you peace, joy, and abundance? Did you know that you are graced?

But, just like a million dollars is meaningless until you actually spend it (after all, just because I have a million dollars in the bank doesn’t mean my life is any different–the difference is in my ability to spend it), so is God’s love. God’s love is meaningless until you spend it–on yourself and others.

So, how will you spend God’s love today?