Episode 360: I’m Talkin…Wages

I’m talking episode 360 for March 9th, 2025.

This is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week we’re talking wages.

So wages is a fairly common word, maybe even very common.

And, and it’s used in a, in a simple sense.

It’s what we get paid when we have a job or when we do a task where we have a contract with somebody.

It is what we have earned.

It is something that is not just given to us because we are good people or whatever it may be.

This is something that we are owed.

It’s a contract that we’ve made with a company that we work for, with a contractor or a client that we’re working for, where we have come to an agreement of how much one is going to get in wages.

And maybe it’s a per hour, maybe it’s a salary, whatever it is.

It is what we are paid, what we earned and what we feel we are owed.

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

So why is it a challenge?

Well, let’s start with where the word came from and why I’m talking about it this week.

And my verse this week is from Romans 6, verse 23, which says, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And so there you see that wages, and I’ll explain the challenge here next.

So here’s the deal.

When we have a contract for wages, as like I said in the beginning of what we’re owed, this is what this verse is talking about.

You know, what we have earned and what we are owed is death because of our sin.

That’s just the way it works.

And yet in our minds, we say, well, aren’t we good enough?

We’re trying to do our very best, or maybe we’re better than that guy sitting over there.

Or maybe we’re like, well, where is the grace in this formula?

Well, God wants to make it very clear, and it’s hard for us as Christians to hold people to that standard, but it’s not our standard.

It’s God’s standard that says for the wages of sin is death.

That’s what you get.

That’s what you’re owed.

That’s what you’ve earned.

But then it says the free gift of God is eternal life.

So it’s free.

It’s there.

That’s full of grace because it’s not getting what we earned and what we feel we are owed.

It’s a gift of eternal life.

And like every gift, it only works if you take it, and it doesn’t do anything for you if you leave it sitting on a shelf.

So the challenge for us as Christians is to let people know that what they’ve earned, what they’re owed, what their wages are, is death.

But what God has to offer them through the blood of Jesus Christ is a free gift of eternal life.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.