Rev. Don Campbell

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, OCTOBER 18, 2017: I OWE MANY PEOPLE

It would be impossible for me to name all of the people whom I owe. As I entertained this thought, I recalled a story often repeated by my mother. A few weeks after my birth, I contracted double pneumonia. No roomful or nurses and doctors attended to me. “Old Doc Keith,” as he affectionately became known in our household attended to me in his office. Mother recounted how twice he had laid me down as dead, but then—either seeing some sign of life or just refusing to give up, he would grab me up again and begin working with me. Obviously, he succeeded.

This is where one might suggest that God had a purpose for my life and that is why Doc Keith was able to save me from dying in infancy. Perhaps. But friend, God has a purpose for every life. There is a universal purpose: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl 12:13-14). There is also an individual purpose: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (Eccl 8:10).

My mother and father gave me life; Old Doc Keith saved it; many people impacted it, but the one to whom I owe all is Jesus Christ.

He paid a debt He did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay
I needed someone to wash my sins away
And now I sing a brand new song
Amazing Grace

Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay
It is wonderful to sing about how Jesus paid our debt, but we owe a debt that not even Jesus can pay on our behalf: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

I owe Mom and Dad; I owe Doc Keith; I owe every believer the same kind of love Jesus had for me—unconditional, unearned, unending. This is not a debt that can be paid off, for it is new every morning. Just about the time we are confident we have mastered this love, God put some obnoxious creature in our path and says, “Now love them.”