While gift shopping for my wife, I came across an ad that offered a free purse. Who doesn’t like free? However, the fine print said, “Free with a $100 or more purchase.” So basically, I needed to buy an overpriced item to get an item for free? Pass.
Ever heard of Christian Ludwig Scheidt? He wrote a hymn entitled “By Grace I’m Saved, Grace Free and Boundless.” Every stanza starts with the words by grace and echo the apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8,9: “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.”
When it comes to your salvation, there’s no fine print. It’s a gift. This gift cost Jesus his life, but he gifts you with eternal life and the assurance that ALL your sins are forgiven. No tricks. No bait and switch. FREE.
This news needs to be shared! During the seventh inning stretch of a recent baseball game that I attended, a stadium worker donned an air gun that launched free T-shirts from the dugout clear up to the upper deck. It was wild to watch all the folks clamoring to catch a free T-shirt that was hurdling at them at high speed. Wouldn’t it be cool if we, with the same zeal and speed, took this message of freedom, heaven, and sins forgiven and shared it with our neighbors, coworkers, and friends? No tricks. It’s free.