If It's Free It's For Me!

"If it's free it's for me!" is a phrase my husband coined during a family vacation which included touring the dairy farms of Vermont and sampling cheeses at various roadside country stores.  I'm pretty sure I remember some of these stops having samples of fudge available too!  You could pretty much make a meal out of all the free samples!  There certainly was a "method to the madness" of these roadside stores offering so many free samples - to draw in customers to the wonderful tastes of Vermont.  And it worked!  We were certainly one of those customers.

We have a Heavenly Father whose Spirit draws us to Himself offering the free gift of Salvation in Christ Jesus.   If we are so attracted to free THINGS on this earth, why do we find it hard to accept the free gift of salvation OR feel as though we must work toward receiving this gift.  Isn't the very nature of a gift that you don't have to pay for it - that it's been given to you?   Let alone when something is marked for free, it means without cost or payment.

If it's Free, it's NOT for Me

Recently, my husband and I witnessed what appeared to be a case of shoplifting.  The person was parked outside a major department store right next to our car, but his car was running.  As I locked my door, I happened to notice him taking pictures of men's shirts draped over the back of his backseat, still on the hangers.  At first I thought this odd, but it became more apparent what was going on when a minute later, I saw a woman running from the department store door through the parking lot carrying what looked like 15 toddler outfits - still on hangers with no bag and no evidence that she had a pocketbook.  

As we drove away, I wondered if this family was so desperate that they resorted to desperate measures.  Maybe this is something that was so out of character for them.  I don't know...   But instead of making payment for the items, they took the clothes as if they were free...

It is sad that there are people in this world who have no issue with stealing.  Yet I believe that most people have a natural aversion to taking something that doesn't belong to them.   In the case of a person's loving charity, that natural aversion, though, can stop us from blessing the giver as it can be humbling to accept monetary gifts or material gifts that are free when we are down on our luck.  It can make us feel uncomfortable.

In the same way, when we feel as though we have to work toward entrance into eternal life, we are acting as though we are taking something from God that we do not deserve... yet...   As if our actions will make us right with the Lord.   That very thinking is the opposite of humbling; it's actually pride...

We CANNOT earn our way into Heaven. 

If God Says it's Free, then it's Free!

There are many things in this world we can receive for free, but there is only One thing that we can take in this life without making payment, and that is the free gift of Eternal Life through Christ Jesus.

For the wages of sin is death, 

but the free gift of God is eternal life 

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Jesus died on the cross so that the debt WE owed, for all of our sins, would be marked PAID IN FULL.  

When we confess our sins to God, and believe that the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus paid our sin debt in full; turn away from our sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we can take the free gift of Eternal Life where a wellspring of many other free gifts will flow through to us...

The free gift of the Holy Spirit, our Helper, our guide...

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 

John 14:26

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

John 16:13-15 

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— 

Isaiah 11:2

The free gift of peace...

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

John 14:27

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:7

The free gift of wisdom...

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, 

and it will be given him.

James 1:5

For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, 

which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

Luke 21:15

The free gift of knowledge and understanding...

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 2:6

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Psalm 32:8

For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

Proverbs 2:10

The free gift of profound love...

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us 

and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

...I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Jeremiah 31:3

And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:19

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, 

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

Psalm 103:11

If you haven't taken the free gift of Eternal Life, a gift that requires NO payment {you can't work your way into Heaven},  please consider all that Christ Jesus has already done for YOU so that when you die, you can live eternally in Heaven with Him, and while on this earth, enjoy ALL the free gifts that are yours through freedom in Christ, if only you will believe and take hold of...

For God says,

“At just the right time, I heard you.

    On the day of salvation, I helped you.”

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:2

To read my Salvation story, please head over to my post, The  Story God Wrote For Me - Anxiety Saved Me, which you can read HERE.

 For those of us who have already taken hold of the free gift of Eternal Life, may we continually take from the abundance of other free gifts available to us through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, doing so with a heart of gratitude and love.

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