Just in case you missed it….
For the last couple of weeks I have been receiving phone calls that have become a little annoying. When I go to answer the call with a very polite, “Hello”, on the other end I hear the horn of a cruise ship with a voice saying that I have won a free cruise. I have never let the call go far enough to find out if my bride and I actually need start packing. But it did get me to thinking, is there anything in life that is free?
The word ‘free’ does not necessarily mean ‘without cost.’ This is especially true when it comes to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. To become a Christian does not involve a monetary transaction but Jesus said that anyone who wanted to follow him must put Him first! First above anything else in life, first above every other relationship, habit and whatever else we give our time and attention to. It costs to become a Christian!
The divine exchange of salvation is full of grace. God gives us what we could never earn or pay for ourselves – the rescue of our life! By God’s grace, he gives us what we have been seeking since we were born, satisfaction and true joy! Sin and guilt have enslaved us without Christ but on the cross he died for us! Now we live in grace as we have embraced the truth of the gospel through repentance and faith. That is the true freedom of grace!
Like a drug addict that finds it difficult to leave the habit, so we have difficulty leaving our sin. It hangs onto us like a barnacle on a Maritime rock. But when we learn to walk each day to please our Lord, as we grow in our relationship with him, we mature and learn how to glorify him.
The freedom of walking in grace here and now is like a baby who is learning to transition from crawling to walking. When I became a Christian there were many things in my life that had to go, now some 30 years later, I am learning what pleases the Lord, not that I have totally mastered sin, as my wife would quickly tell you. But I find great freedom in living for God each day! I know now when sin is lying around the corner ready to enslave me again. I am living 1 Corinthians 10:13 on a more consistent basis. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Sin is a costly master, it enslaves and brings death. However, the great news is that grace brings freedom and true life! What are you choosing today? Now that we have been bought with the price of the precious blood of Jesus, we are now his! We live in his freedom! Don’t you just want to shout ‘Amen!’ Go for it! There is absolutely nothing that the world could offer us that could ever compare!
In Times Like These 