Not a living wage! For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 It's not a living wage. No, I’m not referring to the minimum wage or even the attempts to raise it. And I’m not talking about a paycheck that you might receive for work done. I'm talking about a different kind of wage. I’m talking about a wage that actually leaves us in debt. This is a wage that leaves the payee obligated to the payer. This is no living wage. The only thing it pays is death. Of course, what we're talking about here is sin. And Paul reminds us in Romans that those who belong to Jesus are no longer to let sin have dominion in our mortal bodies. We are to refuse employment. Yet sin is cunning and baffling. It wears plenty of disguises hoping to trick us. It's big on promises but very short on delivery. We know what its paycheck looks like…it’s not a living wage. And we have received something much more precious and glorious than the wage that sin has to offer: the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have been given a promotion to a whole new way of living! So, the next time sin comes knocking... asking you to come back to work...promising that this time it will be different...Remember: it’s not a living wage! Blessings,
Matthew+ Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP p. 229) | 
