Freely Give

We all like a good deal. My wife especially. She's an excellent shopper - always getting the best deals in stores. She came home from grocery shopping on Monday and said she'd saved $42 on food. That's a lot!

One thing I eat a lot of is Cheerios cereal. My wife knows that and when she sees a deal in the stores she pounces on it. This week she came home with six boxes of the stuff. "It was a deal," she explained. They were practically giving them away.

My wife doesn't really like my Cheerios. She'd rather eat her Special K. Still, she knows what I like and what I need and so she provides for me in her shopping.

God knows what we need as well. He too has provided for our every need. Not our "wants" like my Cheerios, but our needs. Our hearts are beating. Our lungs are breathing. Those are REAL needs.

Eventually though our hearts and lungs stop and we are faced with the possibility of death. Even in death though, God has provided for us. He has promised us a life AFTER this one. The only thing we have to do to get God's free gift it is to believe in His Son, Jesus.

The choice seems simple enough yet many people refuse. Why is that? Well, it's because of another free gift from God. Free will. God doesn't force us to believe. We have to come to decisions about our faith on our own. Well, sort of.

God already knows who will believe in His Son and who won't. God calls the believers to Himself. Those who receive that gift of eternal life are asked to spread the good news - The Gospel. AND to love one another.

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give." - Matthew 10:8

We are to freely give of ourselves to a dying world. Why? In hopes that some might be saved. Our love is a calling card to the world from God Himself. Our prayer then is that those who have not yet placed their faith in Christ will do so, and be saved.

You see, OUR free gift that was given to us by God was NOT free to Him. His Son had to die for our sins in order for us to be able to obtain that free gift. Respect a God that would sacrifice so much we such a group of unfit sinners. THAT is love.

Ain't nothin' free. Someone must pay the price. Jesus paid it. We get the gift. That's why we go to church. To worship the giver of the gift.

Freely Freely - Sanctuary Choir