I Was Just Thinking

by Pastor Vincent Imwensi

There is often a tendency for many people to treat what is free as “cheap.” Consequently they take it for granted and treat it as a thing of little or no value. But that is a big error and in many cases, nothing could be further from the truth!

Christmas has just passed and one of the main activities for which Christmas is known is that it is a time of giving and receiving gifts.

Do you realise how expensive it can be to get a fitting present for some people you love? Not just in terms of money alone but the huge amount of effort and time that go into searching and finding the right gift for certain individuals. And when you finally buy the gift you are looking for, you wrap it up nicely and give it out for free to the one you intended it for.

The question is, was it cheap simply because you gave it out for free? Certainly not! To the recipient, it is free but to you the giver, it was sacrificial and expensive.

If you pay peanuts, you will hire monkeys: yes but …..
That is a common saying meaning that you get what you pay for and that the cheaper it is, the lower the quality. In a number of cases, that is true. There are things that are of little or no value and when such things are given out for free, it is understandable why people take them lightly.

But what becomes wrong is when that attitude becomes our yardstick for quality assessment and the binoculars through which we look at everything that is free.

We ought to know the difference between what is cheap and free and what is costly but given out free. Failure to make that demarcation is what has left many people behaving in a most ungrateful manner without knowing it.

Too expensive to carry a price tag
The reason some things are given free is because they are too costly to carry a price tag – they are invaluable. Putting a fair price on such things will put them out of reach to the multitudes that need them.

Do you realize that some of the most expensive things in life are free? For instance, the air we breathe in, the water that we drink, the sound health that we enjoy, (etc..), are all free and yet they are often taken for granted until we have to pay for them.

When for example, people suffer kidney failure and their bodily system has to be kept working through dialysis, do you know how much that costs per day? Many times, the dialysis machine has to be switched off before treatment is completed and the patient dies because it is no longer affordable to keep the patient alive (except for those who are very rich).

And yet those, whose kidneys function properly as to need no dialysis, often take it for granted. There are a host of other examples that I could give right now to illustrate this fact but I am sure you get the point.

God knew we couldn’t pay so He offered it for free!
The salvation of our soul is something that is so expensive that no human being could afford it, so God offered it for free. That was why He sent Jesus Christ His Son into this world to die to save sinners free of charge.

The scriptures tell is that “… God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

The salvation that is offered to us free is the most expensive thing under the sun. It cost Jesus Christ unimaginable torture and persecution in the hands of His enemies plus a precarious death on the cross of Calvary. He did all that so that our sins could be paid for and so that we might receive salvation free of charge.

Why are so many people rejecting the gospel?
There may be several reasons but I believe one of the main reasons is because it is free and therefore in the thinking of many, it is cheap and of little value. But how wrong they are!

Regarding the Christmas presents that you gave out, how would you feel if the recipients of those gifts (that had cost you so much time, effort and money) regard the gifts as cheap simply because you gave it to them for free?
That would hurt your feelings, wouldn’t it? That is how God feels when people snub the gospel message and turn down the offer of free salvation by faith in Christ Jesus.

The wisdom of gratitude versus the folly of ingratitude
When something of value is given out for free, wisdom demands that the recipients should acknowledge such with a sense of gratitude – that is the proper response.

The truth is that nothing of value is actually free. It may have been given out for free, but it has cost the giver a lot.
Therefore to snub, belittle or take such benefits for granted, not only demonstrates gross ingratitude, it echoes the very opposite of wisdom (and that has a name – figure it out!).

Let me seize this opportunity to thank many of the users of this blogsite who have left encouraging comments to say how much they appreciate the fact that very valuable insight and information are being given out on this blogsite for free. A big thanks to all of you. Such gratitude and sincere appreciation act as impetus for me to keep it flowing.

Don’t reject God’s gift of salvation
Don’t be among those who snub and reject the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every man born of a woman is in need of salvation (whether they realize it or not).

Without salvation, eternity holds a very bleak prospect for the human soul. This salvation is being offered free of charge – not because it is cheap but because it is beyond what we can merit or afford.
Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and asking Him to save your soul is the way to receive this wonderful gift. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to do it right away. Click here to find out how.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29th, 2012 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Practical issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.