Free Lunch

Do you have the mentality of earning your keep? Do you believe there is no such thing as a “free lunch?” Do you strive to earn everything you need and want? Do you believe you have earned your way? Do you believe there is something that is free?

I, for one, have always operated on the belief that if I need something or want something, I must earn it. I have always believed in the mantra that there is no such thing as a “free lunch.” In fact, I’ve taught that to others and insisted on it, regardless of what the sign in the window says. Yet, I was wrong.

You see, there is something that’s absolutely free. The only cost is a choice we must make. That choice doesn’t cost us money. It won’t cost us our freedom. It only takes a few seconds of our time. God sent His Son to save us simply because of His awesome mercy toward us.

We often want to put many rules in place for ourselves in the church. We add traditions to our worship services. We put all kinds of decorative artifacts in our buildings. Yet the most profound worship ever recorded was done on a hill side in the middle of God’s creation, not in a building.

When we ask people to come to Jesus Christ, to accept Him as their Lord and Savior, we ask questions. Depending on the specific setting, there may be several questions asked. Do we really need all those questions? Perhaps a single question is required, “Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” That’s the only question God is asking. Why do we need to ask more?

I believe we need to be extremely cautious with additions to God’s requirements. We are told in Scripture that these types of additions were one contributor to Jesus admonishing the Pharisees. When we look at what Jesus asked of His disciples while walking this earth, His simple requirement was to believe Him and accept Him. When we do that, we love, we learn, we desire to be like Him, we continue to grow in our understanding of God, and we accept the Holy Spirit into our being in order to change us.

It is God’s great mercy that provides us with salvation. It is He who did all the work to save us. We have nothing to brag about, nothing to point to our own righteousness (for we have none apart from Jesus), not one single thing that can earn our way into heaven. Every bit of it is a gift from God.

I pray we all recognize God’s merciful gift of salvation. I pray we give thanks to God for providing the gift of salvation. I pray each one of us humbles ourselves before God as a sinner who accepts His free gift. Recognize God’s mercy and love. See clearly that He gave you a free gift. Give thanks to Him who provides. Accept His gift.

Titus 3:4-5 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.