Plan A and plan B

LORD, who may enter your Temple? Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill? Those who obey God in everything and always do what is right, whose words are true and sincere, and who do not slander others. They do no wrong to their friends and do not spread rumours about their neighbours. (verses 1-3)

Read Psalm 15

We can’t go to heaven unless we have a ticket. But how do we get one? We get one, the psalm writer says, by producing the right actions. Do the right thing, tell the truth, do not say bad things about other people, look after our fellow humans, do not make nasty insinuations. This is not an exhaustive list, but you get the idea. If we want to go to heaven, we have to be a good person. This is Plan A.

The trouble, of course, is that we can’t do this. We know how, but we’re not able. That is why God has provided Plan B. According to this option, Jesus earns a ticket on our behalf and gives it to us free of charge. He did this by dying on the cross and rising to life.

The psalm-writer knew about Plan A, where we had to earn our ticket. But it is Plan B, with its free ticket, that we can depend on. Once we’ve received our ticket, we can give Plan A another shot with God’s help. But always rely on Plan B.

Lord Jesus, thank you for your free ticket which you won for me by dying on the cross and rising to life. Help me to obey and follow you. Amen.

adapted by Richard Fox from devotion by Richard Hauser, in ‘Assurance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2004)

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