“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
Here it is, only 7:15 in the morning and I am mad as a hornet! I agree the matter is trivial, if I’m talking dollars… which I am. $5.99 to be precise! But this is NOT ABOUT money. It’s about PRINCIPLE! And for me, principle takes precedence over cash! So, after looking for a contact, and getting more edgy, I FINALLY connected and ‘let ‘em have it!’
It should have been simple! Finding the items didn’t take long, But when the ‘place order’ came up, the screen told me they were giving me ‘Free Shipping!’ After ordering, I saw they billed me $5.99! As far back as I remember…. $5.99 isn’t FREE! I felt bad for the lady on the other end of the phone, but she said had no control over the order and asked me to ‘cancel and resubmit.’
Unfortunately, the merchandising business these days has outmaneuvered the ‘service factor.’ Far too often I have tried to contact a company, only to be run through a computer with NO ability to actually TALK to a person. If an order is lost, late or unavailable… the word from the computer is… ‘too bad… not our fault! But thank you!’ And it only seems to get worse.
‘FREE” is my favorite 4 letter ‘F’ word! So, just for curiosity’s sake, I went to my computer browser to look up the word FREE and how it relates to Salvation in Jesus Christ. After all, The ‘Corporate Church’ has been bragging that Salvation is ‘FREE’ forever! After my Bible search, my face registered the same kind of shock as I had with my computer order! Because… it isn’t there!
The Bible does it say that Heaven and Eternal life are FREE! As I write, I can sense the Holy Spirit laughing at my lifetime ignorance, or stupidity! The Bible tells me that I have been SET FREE from sin and death. But it NEVER says that the TRANSACTION was free. After all, God reminded, it took the death of His Son Jesus to BUY IT! And MY death to redeem it! It’s a gift… but NOT free.
Maybe that is the problem with the whole Jesus business. I find most people who call themselves Christians FAR too lazy or presumptuous to actually put time, shoe leather and sweat into their relationship with the God of the universe who suffered HORRIBLY to set me free. When I received Salvation from God by accepting His offer of Grace, we traded titles. Mine for His. His for mine!
God expects me to LOVE Him, FOLLOW Him, SEEK Him, STUDY Him, WORSHIP Him. That means working at finding out what He wants from me and OBEYING Him! THAT is NOT FREE. It takes time, patience, determination and setting Him as Priority 1! ALL THE TIME! But what I get in return, AFTER my investment, is PRICELESS.
Have YOU ordered a life from God you think should be FREE? If so, you may want to cancel that order and resubmit! Because true Worship… is a verb!
