In the early 1900s, there was a man in the Russian army who had the job of paymaster. His job was to accept and then distribute the pay to the soldiers of the units in his area. This certain young paymaster had a problem with gambling. After having received a large sum of money for a company of soldiers he became caught up on a game and lost not only his own pay for a month but the pay of the entire unit. He knew there was no way he could ever repay the money and knew there was no hope but prison or a firing squad.

He decided the only thing he could do was to take his own life. He sat at his desk with a pistol and wrote this note. “So great a debt. Who could ever repay?” As he sat in anguish thinking about what he must do, he fell asleep. Nicholas, Tzar of Russia at the time, happened to be out for an evening walk and noticed the light still on at the paymasters quarters. He decided to stop in on the young man. He found the door open and the young man asleep with the pistol on his desk and the note. He took the pistol and wrote on the bottom of the note, “Nicholas can.”

We, like the young paymaster, have a great debt we cannot possibly ever repay. We deserve death. Not one of us is righteous. Not one of us can ever earn enough to deserve the reward of heaven. We have so great a debt. Who can ever repay? Jesus can — and He did.

Sharon Paxton Btlfan910@aol.com

story retold as heard from a minister at a small church in Langley, Arkansas