"Pay Whatever You Want!" (1 Corinthians 7:23)

In an interesting advertising move, a restaurant in China attempted to draw in customers by offering a “Pay What You Want” policy. It was an abject failure. Customers paid the equivalent of a few cents for their meals. By the end of the week, the restaurant lost an equivalent of $15,000. Even more disheartening was the fact that after the restaurant ended the promotion, no one returned. Apparently, no one thought the food was even good enough to return. In the opinion of the customers who initially came, the food was only worth the paltry sum that each of them paid.

For food or services, setting a price is not a burdensome task. It is a subjective pricing that most people would be able to agree. But what about naming a price to relieve ourselves of our sins and guilt, what would we pay? For a rude remark to store clerk, five dollars? For a small lie to cover up a mistake, twenty five dollars? What about a major crime like a murder? A thousand dollars? A million? The more one thinks about it, the more ridiculous it becomes.

You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

1 Corinthians 7:23 (ESV)

There is no amount of money that can resolve our sins or relieve our guilt. Only God can pay that price and He did, by dying on the Cross for all of our sins-past, present and future.

Pay whatever you want? For our sins, only Jesus could pay that price. Thanks be to God that He did it for us.

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.