Your All-Inclusive Package

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" - Romans 8:32 (NKJV)

There was a man and wife who won an all-inclusive cruise, but they didn't realize it was all-inclusive. Being poor with little money, they stayed in their cabin eating cheese and crackers the entire trip. When crew members noticed they hadn't been to the dining room, they asked, "Aren't you coming for dinner? You haven't been to the cafeteria the whole trip."

The couple replied, "We don't have money for that."

"No, no," the crew explained. "It's all included! You can enjoy all the food, all the drinks, everything at no cost to you. It's part of the package."

From that moment on, they ate well and enjoyed everything the cruise offered. It was all inclusive - they just hadn't realized what was available to them.

Can you imagine their frustration when they realized what they had missed? All that time, they could have been enjoying gourmet meals, entertainment, and all the amenities of the ship. Everything was already paid for. Everything was already included. They just didn't understand what belonged to them.

Friend, we have been given an all-inclusive package in Christ. Paul says in Romans 8:32 that if God was willing to give up His most precious possession for our salvation - His own Son - then certainly He will give us everything else we need for this life. If He gave us the greater Gift (Jesus), will He not also give us the lesser gifts (daily provision, health, strength, wisdom)?

If you were to ask any father or mother to allow their child to lay down their life for another, you'd say "No", but yet God the Father did that for us, for our salvation. We trust Him for our salvation, yet we don't trust Him for everyday life.

I like what Charles Spurgeon once said: "He Who has given us heaven will surely give us all that is needful on the road." If God has secured for us heaven (and He has), He will also secure us on the way to heaven. Spurgeon said it this way in another place: "We shall have enough spending money on the road to glory for He Who is guaranteed to bring us there will not starve us along the way."

Too many Christians are living like that couple on the cruise ship - staying in their cabins, eating crackers and cheese, when God has prepared a banquet for them. Everything is already paid for. Everything is already included. Jesus paid the full price at Calvary.

All of the blessings of God come to you because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. If you want the blessings, God's word to us is to take Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Enter into a relationship with Him, because all these blessings come to us through a relationship with Jesus. When we receive the Son, we have the blessings.

Reflection Question: Are you living like that couple eating crackers in their cabin when God has provided an all-inclusive package?

Heavenly Father, thank You for the all-inclusive package You've given me through Jesus Christ. Forgive me for living like a spiritual pauper when You've prepared a banquet for me. Help me understand that if You gave Your most precious possession - Your Son - for me, You will certainly provide everything else I need. In Jesus' Name, amen.

Adapted from "Blessed Beyond Measure" (Ephesians 1:3): https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/mdjxjmb/2-blessed-beyond-measure-eph-1-3