Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison

Imagine yourself awaiting execution for some horrible crime. A man awaits in a leather hood and is wielding a large axe. You kneel before him, melting with the fear of a sure and impending doom. Then another man steps forward, the son of the king, and he stays the executioner's hand. He then orders you released and kneels in the very spot that you were in only a moment ago. Understanding dawns on you at just what the son of the king is doing for you. You try to stop him from taking your place but he shakes his head, looks deep into your eyes and says, "I am taking your place. All I ask is that you live for me". And you go away, filled with love, determined to meet his request.

Now imagine yourself the very next day, preparing to do the work of the one who paid your penalty. You look at the schedule that day - the schedule of the son of the king who took your place - and you decide that it is filled with things that are simply beneath your dignity. There is a lot of service to others and frankly it looks too much like work, so you walk away from duty without even a glance back and return to your old ways.

Ridiculous story, isn't it? Yet , when you think about it there are billions of people who have temporarily escaped the sword of the executioner because the real Son of the real King took their place. And, quite frankly, while they liked the sentiment of the grace that saved them, the life that they are called to looks too much like work. And... they miss the greatest opportunity of an eternal lifetime.  How about you?

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6, NIV