The following story appears to be an "urban legend," but is fun to read
nevertheless:
In March 1992, a man living near Boston,
Massachusetts received a bill for his as yet unused credit card stating
that he owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw it away. In April he
received another and threw that one away, too.
The following
month the credit card company sent him a very nasty note stating they
were going to cancel his card if he didn't send them $0.00 by return of
post. He called them, talked to them, they said it was a computer error
and told him they'd take care of it.
The following month he
decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome credit
card figuring that if there were purchases on his account it would put
an end to his ridiculous predicament. However, in the first store that
he produced his credit card in payment for his purchases he found that
his card had been canceled. He called the credit card company who
apologized for the computer error once again and said that they would
take care of it.
The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating
that payment was now overdue. Assuming that having spoken to the credit
card company only the previous day and that the latest bill was yet
another mistake, he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as
good as their word and sort the problem out.
The next month he
got a bill for $0.00 stating that he had 10 days to pay his account or
the company would have to take steps to recover the debt.
Finally
giving in, he thought he would play the company at their own game and
mailed them a check for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account
and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the credit card
company nothing at all.
A week later, the man's bank called him
asking him what he was doing writing a check for $0.00. After a lengthy
explanation, the bank replied that the $0.00 check had caused their
check processing software to fail. The bank could not now process ANY
checks from ANY of their customers that day because the check for $0.00
was causing the computer to crash.
The following month the man
received a letter from the credit card company claiming that his check
had bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he sent a check
by return of post they would be taking steps to recover the debt.
The man, who had been considering buying his wife a computer for her
birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.
As I read that story,
I couldn't help but think of the debt that we owe because of our sin.
"The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). But, for those who are in
Christ, that debt has been canceled -- we owe nothing. "There is
therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do
not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Rom.
8:1)
Despite that fact, though, Satan continues to make us feel
that we still owe something (he's not called "the accuser" for
nothing!). But listen to these words of comfort:
"Then I heard a
loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the
accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night,
has been cast down.' And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and
by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the
death." (Rev. 12:10-11)
Praise be to the Lamb whose blood makes
it possible for us to have a debt of $0.00!
Alan Smith
Innisfil, ON, Canada
