There Will Never Be a Bill

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV

In a story titled “A Runner Was Hit by a Car, Then by a Surprise Ambulance Bill” published late last month, the following was reported: Jagdish Whitten was on a run in July 2023 when a car hit him as he crossed a busy San Francisco street. Whitten, then 25, described doing “a little flip” over the vehicle and landing in the street before getting himself to the curb. Concerned onlookers called an ambulance. But Whitten instead had friends pick him up and take him to a nearby hospital, the Helen Diller Medical Center, operated by the University of California-San Francisco. “I knew that ambulances were expensive, and I didn’t think I was going to die,” he said. Whitten said doctors treated him for a mild concussion, a broken toe, and bruises. As he sat in a hospital bed, attached to an IV and wearing a neck brace, Whitten said, doctors told him that because he had suffered a traumatic injury, they had to send him by ambulance to the city’s only trauma center, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. After a short ambulance ride, Whitten said, emergency room doctors checked him out, told him he had already received appropriate treatment, and released him. Then the bill came.

And, you know, when it comes to getting a surprise bill for lifesaving services rendered, the Bible is clear that it is by grace that we have been saved, through faith—and this is not from ourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Do you get the enormity of that? Jesus Christ died to save us from our sins and offers eternal life to all those who choose to accept Him as their Savior. This is the greatest lifesaving care a person could ever receive and yet we will never receive a surprise bill for it! Think of it as grace being the ambulance that transports believers to heaven… and yet it’s free. Does that make you smile or what?

So, if you have not made the decision to follow Jesus with your whole heart, do it today my friend. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and there will be no second chances once you breathe your last breath. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the death, burial, and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, that paid the price for our ascension to Heaven. Help us to be so grateful for this gift of grace that we can’t help but praise You with our lips and with our lives. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!