The Fine Print: Covered - No Balance Due
- Apr 14
- 10 min read
Updated: Jun 19
The Cost of Sin. The Receipt of Grace.
That Moment You Realize:
“I Don’t Have Enough for This.”
Have you ever felt it before? That sudden panic. That drop in your stomach when life presents a price tag you didn’t expect. The moment you reach for your wallet—and it’s missing. The shock of logging into your college portal only to find a balance that exceeds your bank account. Perhaps it was while planning a dream wedding, only to discover the vision doesn’t match your coins. Maybe it was the moment the mortgage lender emails you the closing costs, or the overdraft notification that flashes across your phone, or when the car breaks down at the worst possible time.
These are the moments when life slaps us with its price tag—and it always feels expensive.
But, friend, you and I have received a bill that makes all of those feel like pocket change in comparison. The day we were born—naked, new, and unaware—our name was written on a spiritual invoice. A balance we didn’t earn, but inherited.
The bill had already been printed. The charge? Sin. BALANCE DUE: DEATH.
Yeah, I know that’s heavy. But this is where the good news of the gospel begins.
Let’s Take a Closer Look at the INVOICE in the Fine Print
Before we move forward—pause.
Friend, do me a favor. Turn up the brightness on your device. Not just so you can see the screen clearly, but so your heart can see what God is revealing. Right here. Right now.
Invite the Holy Spirit into this moment.
Whisper this:
“Holy Spirit, reveal Your truth to me. Remove every distraction and every wall that makes me treat Your Word as familiar, casual, or common. Create space in my heart to experience more of You today.”
Please, don’t scroll past this like it’s just another Easter message. It’s not.
This is sacred space—a divine interruption in your scroll. A meeting place, right here in the middle of the digital wilderness.
And I believe your Father has something to show you.
Jesus, meet us here—through this screen, through these words, by Your Spirit. Amen.
The Personalized Invoice
Imagine this for just a second. You’re walking to the mailbox on a beautiful fall day. You bring the stack of mail inside and sit down to open the one that looks like a check first—because it looks promising, and it has your name on it.
You unfold it, only to see it’s an invoice listing all your charges with a spiritual bill attached.
The charge? SIN. David said it clearly in
Psalm 51:5: "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."
Here’s what’s on the invoice. Scroll your eyes down the list and you’ll see:
Original Sin – Inherited at birth (Romans 5:12)
Pride – That time you thought you didn’t need God.
Lying – Even the “harmless” ones.
Bitterness – The grudge you’re still holding.
Lust – What your eyes lingered on.
Gossip – The whispers behind their back.
Envy – Scrolling, comparing, resenting.
Idolatry – Putting anything—even good things—above God.
Fear – Trusting your worry more than His Word.
Disobedience – Knowing better… still doing it.
Unforgiveness – That one person you refuse to release.
And the list goes on…
At this point, you want to throw the bill away because you realize, "Oh, I’ve already spent that. I can’t pay for this." How many bills have we tossed in the trash saying, "I ain’t got that right now"? Guilty. Lol. Seriously though, thank You Jesus for deliverance and integrity.
Okay, we’ll get to that in a second.
As we strayed from God, the invoice grew. Some of it you remember clearly. Some of it you buried deep. But Heaven keeps perfect records. The balance was rising… and the due date? Still ticking closer.
Whether we realized it or not, we weren’t just living—we were accumulating. And every decision apart from God added another line item to the list.
Isaiah 53:6 "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way…"
We weren’t just victims of inherited sin. We became participants. Contributors. We wandered. We rebelled. We wrote our own charges into the ledger.
Then you glance at the bottom of the invoice. And right there in bold letters, the
due date says: DEATH.
Romans 6:23 *"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Remember how we thought it was a check? That’s the only reason we opened it, right? Well… there was a check in the envelope.
And it says: PAID IN FULL.
But here’s the catch: the check has to be deposited. You have to say yes. You have to claim it. You can only receive the benefits of this payment if your name is on the account.
Would you like to add your name to the account?
Or maybe your name is already on the account, and you just need to make a withdrawal. But before we get there, let’s make sure your name is written—clearly and boldly—on the Kingdom of God’s ledger.
If you're not yet a member of God’s Kingdom, or if you're unsure, let’s settle that today.
To become a member, all you have to do is repent.
You might be asking, “What does that mean, Zee? And why should I even become a member?”
To repent means to turn away from trying to run your own life and choose instead to follow Jesus Christ. It’s surrendering the weight of self-sufficiency and acknowledging, “I can’t save myself—but He can.”
Why should you become a member of the Kingdom of God? Because you and I could never afford the bill. The charge is sin. The cost is death. But the good news? We have a Savior who is not only willing, but more than able, to cover the bill—and leave a tip.
Let’s be honest: We’ve tried it our way, and it’s not working.
So let’s write your name into the Kingdom’s account.
Friend… don’t let the enemy convince you that you can’t get saved through a blog post—because you absolutely CAN.
(To the current account holders: pause and pray for those reading this. Ask Jesus to help them finish the full transaction of faith.)
Listen: now is the perfect time. There is no distance in the Spirit. That means He hears you—right here, right now.
“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” — Psalm 145:18 (NIV)
And the only One qualified to pay your bill in blood is already listening.
You don’t need a church building. You don’t need a choir. You just need an open heart—and a willing yes.
If you're ready, pray this:
“Lord, I repent of my sins. Please forgive me for trying to run my own life. I believe Your only begotten Son Jesus died and was raised from the dead—just for me. I invite Him into my life right now. Thank You for saving me.”
🙌🏽 FRIEND. FRIEND. FRIEND. 🙌🏽WELCOME TO THE FAMILY! 🎉🙌🏽💃🏽🕊️
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” — Romans 10:9 (NIV)
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” — Romans 10:13 (NIV)
Heaven is rejoicing—and so am I!!
“In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” — Luke 15:10 (NLT)
Seriously—as I’m writing this, my heart is racing. I feel like we’re cousins now. This is real talk. This is a spiritual reunion. A redemption story starting right here.
Okay okay… back to the lesson—but for real: Congratulations, fam.
You are covered. You are free. You are new.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
To the Seasoned Account Holders
First, let’s rejoice—we just received new members into the Kingdom of God! Glory, glory! 🙌🏽🎉
Okay friend, maybe you’ve forgotten the kind of access you already have. So allow me to remind you:
The check has been cleared. Our Father—Abba—has paid the full price for you.
“The Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” — Romans 8:15 (NIV)
You don’t need to get “re-saved.”
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” — John 10:28 (NIV)
The enemy cannot revoke your salvation. You’ve been sealed.
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” — John 8:36 (NIV)
Now get up. Dust off the lies. Speak the Word of God over your life.
Okay—let me help you with that. Here’s what your spiritual account says:
You are an ambassador for the Kingdom of God.
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.” — 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
You always win.
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)
You have been adopted.
“He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ…” — Ephesians 1:5 (NIV)
You lack no good thing.
“Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” — Psalm 34:10 (NIV)
You were appointed for such a time as this.
“…And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” — Esther 4:14 (NIV)
You walk in divine health.
“He himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” — 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)
You are equipped with every spiritual gift.
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” — 1 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV)
You are deeply loved—and nothing can separate you from that love.
“Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:39 (NIV)
Now take that to the bank. 🏦💰
The Check Has Been Cleared!
Jesus. He made the deposit.
Why? Because He thought about you and me. He knew we could never make the payment on our own. He saw the invoice—laced with interest rates too high, penalties too steep, and charges too many—and He said, "I’ll pay it."
He reached out His hand and took the full invoice. And not only did He take it—He defeated the accuser.
“For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” — Revelation 12:10 (NIV)
Jesus didn’t hesitate. He didn’t shame us for the extra charges we added. He didn’t ask us to clean up the list first or get our lives together before approaching Him. He didn’t require a Bible-reading prerequisite or perfection in church attendance.
Talk about blood, sweat, and tears—He paid it all. A debt He didn’t personally owe.
“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” — 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
The Settlement!
Do you know the size of the nails used in that settlement?
Historical records suggest the Roman nails used for crucifixion were roughly 5 to 7 inches long, thick enough to hold a body in place on a cross, designed not just for execution—but for shame, torture, and humiliation.
John 20:25 — “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were... I will not believe.”
Do you know what He wore in front of the people?
He was stripped of His clothes and mocked with a scarlet robe—a symbol of royalty turned into a tool for public humiliation.
Matthew 27:28-29 — “They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head.”
It wasn’t just physical pain. It was public disgrace. He stood there, beaten, bruised, and bleeding—for you.
Every item from your invoice and mine was hanging on that tree. All of it. Nothing hidden. Nothing overlooked.
Isaiah 53:5 — “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
He took the shame for us.
Why? Because He loves us.
Romans 5:8 — “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
And at the end of the settlement, do you know what He said?
John 19:30 — “It is finished.”
That wasn’t resignation. That was redemption.
The Last Word: Tetelestai
As He hung there—lungs collapsing, blood pouring, heaven silent—Jesus didn’t whisper defeat.
He declared victory.
“It is finished.” — John 19:30 (NIV)
In Greek, the word is Tetelestai.
It was used by merchants to mark the finality of a completed transaction. It literally means:
Paid. In. Full.
Not partially. Not "until you mess up again. "Not "if you prove yourself worthy."
Just—paid.
Your bill is no longer pending. Your charges are no longer on file. Your debt has been absorbed—and your name has been rewritten in grace.
Conclusion: Covered. Forever.
Friend, this is more than a story. It’s your statement of freedom. What was once an unpaid invoice has been stamped PAID IN FULL by the blood of Jesus.
The nails didn’t just end a life—they secured yours. The cross wasn’t just a symbol—it was a settlement. And the empty tomb? That’s your receipt.
Whether you’re brand new to the family or a seasoned account holder, may this truth never become ordinary: Jesus paid it all. All to Him we owe.
So walk boldly. Live freely. Speak truthfully. And love deeply.
You are covered. You are free. You are new.
“For you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” — 1 Corinthians 6:20
Closing Prayer
Jesus, Thank You for the cross. Thank You for the nails, the thorns, the shame You carried that rightfully belonged to us. Thank You that You didn’t wait for us to be perfect before You paid the bill. You saw the full invoice—every sin, every secret—and You still said, “I’ll cover it.”
We stand in awe of Your love. We receive Your grace.
For those who are new to this family—wrap them in Your peace. For those who’ve forgotten the power of their account—restore wonder and joy. And for all of us, keep our hearts anchored to the truth that we are fully forgiven, eternally loved, and forever covered.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Happy Holy Week Friend!
