All to Him I Owe

"Jesus Paid it All, All to Him I Owe"

I grew up singing those familiar words. Yet somehow, they continue to challenge me more and more as I grow older. They remind me what Jesus did for me, and what I should do for Him.

Luke 23:45-47 describes the last moments of Jesus's life and His last words. "...'Father, into Your hands I entrust my spirit.' Saying this He breathed His last."(CSB). Jesus gave His all for me, for the human race. We therefore owe our everything to Him. Our eternal salvation. Our present reality of grace. I owe my life and my love to Jesus. My all! 

As I live my life, and go about my day, I need to keep that in mind. I need to surrender my every thought and desire to Him. That doesn't mean that EVERY word I say has to be about God. But it does mean that I keep Him in the forefront of my mind. As I'm watching shows on Netflix, I should remember what He sacrificed for me. (Ouch--will I still watch the same shows if I remember that?!) It's about keeping Him in mind as I'm shopping, and thinking about the way I spend my money.  As I'm at work, I need to remember that He gave His best for me, and so I do my best at my job, and in my interactions with others. When I wake up in the mornings, I must give Him my first attention, before the emails, the likes on Instagram, or the news in my feed. 

Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. I choose to live my life--my ALL--for Him!

I used several sets for this page in Luke 23 in my Illustrating Bible. I began by creating a background with some distress oxides in Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, and finally Concord Purple. I laid the color down with a blending took and pads, blended the inks, then sprayed the page with water to activate the oxides in the inks. Then I took each ink and applied some with water directly to the page, either with a wet paint brush, or by smooshing it with some plastic packaging. I also splattered some of the ink. This gave the speckled, textured look.  

I used the cross image from the Victory in Jesus stamp set as the focal point for this page. I stamped the cross in Versafine Black Onyx Ink, and painted it with a combination of watercolors and some distress oxides.  I then stamped the title from the Timeless Hymns set. 

I wanted to add more to emphasize the "all" aspect, so I took three word images from the All in All stamp set: ALL, 100% and all. I wanted these words to be part of the background, so I stamped them in the same colors as the background, but randomly around the margin.  I loved the effect it produced!

I made a tab for the page by stamping the second main image from the Victory in Jesus set. I stamped it in the same Concord Purple because that was the color at the top of the page, and I wanted to continue with that color.  I cut that out with the my tab punch, and then stamped the words "genuine love" from the Genuine Love stamp set. Finally, I stamped some texture with the grid pattern from Texture Tiles 1 set, added some journaling, a date stamp, and a hand-drawn border around the page.  

I pray as we near Easter weekend that you can contemplate the sacrifice Jesus made on your behalf, and the challenge--and invitation--that we are offered.  

Blessings!

Julie

(Affiliate links)

Victory in Jesus

All in All

Timeless Hymns

Genuine Love