When Being “In the Red” is Being “In the Black”

 “Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

Bookkeeping is my job by training and experience. It isn’t a job that people like to talk about in a social gathering. It just isn’t interesting enough to answer the question, “What did you do at work today?” with “I wrote ten checks and balanced my books.” However, a bookkeeper should relate to the scripture above with ease of spiritual understanding. Let me tell you how.

Every business runs its books with two statements. One statement is called a Balance Sheet and the other is called an Income Statement. For today I will explain the Income Statement in its basic function. An Income Statement has two columns. The left column is called the “Debit” side and the right column is called the “Credit” side. Debits are the expenses a business pays such as payroll, supplies, fees, etc. Credits are the sales or income a business earns. When one adds up all the debits and subtracts them from all the credits, and has more debits than credits, we call this “in the red”, or a loss. If there are more credits than debits, we call this “in the black”, or a profit. If a business runs “in the red”, it really only has two choices: increase sales or go bankrupt.

Our lives are like this Income Statement. The “debits” are the sins, trespasses and debts we commit. We can’t fully escape them. If there are no “credits” to our account, we will run “in the red” and be bankrupt. The only “credit” that will cancel these debts and provide the “profit” we so desperately need is another kind of red—the blood of Jesus Christ. This blood is so powerful it covers all the “debits” of the past and every “debit” of the future. To obtain this “sale”, all we have to do is believe and it will be credited to us as righteousness (John 3:16). And if those “debits” start adding up again, a confession of sin will always keep us “in the black” (1 John 1:8-9).

Are you in “the other red”, the blood of Jesus, so you can be “in the black”? I rejoice with you. If not, you don’t have to go bankrupt. Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and you, too, will have righteousness credited to your account.

Thank You, Jesus, for crediting my life with Your precious blood of righteousness and keeping me “in the black.” Please keep me mindful of this truth as I go about my daily life and help me to extend this kind of grace and mercy to those who “debit” against me. In Your precious Name, Amen.