What Does it Cost Me?

I like free stuff.  Free food; free gifts; free time.  I even like buy-one-get-one-free sales at the grocery store.  I don’t think I am unique in this.  There seems to be something in most all of us that finds it hard to resist something free.

Yesterday, I bought some chicken for lunch.  Since I had to wait 11 minutes for it to cook, they gave me a cup for a free drink.  I didn’t really want a drink, but I took it . . .  because it was free.  I filled the cup half full of lemonade then sipped on it while waiting for the chicken to cook.  When the chicken was done, I picked it up, tossed the cup, and left.  Then on the way home I thought “Man!  I should have filled up that cup and brought it home.”  I hate wasting a “free” opportunity, even if it is something I don’t really want.  I have a closet full of free stuff.  Stuff I’ll probably never use.  But hey, it was free, so I took it.

This morning, as I think about that drink, I realize it wasn’t really free.  It was in fact payment for 11 minutes of my time.  When I stop to consider the costs, I realize that most things are not free.  TANSTAAFL as the saying goes.  There-Aint-No-Such-Thing-As-A-Free-Lunch.  Some people more than others have come to realize the TANSTAAFL principle and are suspecious of anything free.  When you take something for free, there’s usually strings attached.   I’ve even learned to say “no” to at least a few free things.   No free nights at a resort hotel; I don’t want to spend three hours listening to a sales pitch for a time share.  I’ll pass on the free carpet cleaning and lawn care estimates too.  A wise person will take the time to count the cost before stuffing his closet full of free stuff.  That goes for beach bags as well as the biggest free gift of all.

Jesus promised eternal life as a free gift.  We Christians spend plenty of time telling people about the grace of God and the “free gift” Jesus’ death on the cross provided.  “Stop trying to work your way to Heaven,” we say.  “Accept the free gift,” we preach.  While it is true, sometimes I wonder if it is the right approach.  Maybe we should say “Are you sure you want to be a Christian?  Perhaps you better count the cost.”  It might be a tougher sales pitch, but to a world that’s increasingly becoming cynical of “free,” it might be a good approach.

Is real Christianity free?  Eternal life cost more than any of us could pay, so Jesus paid it for us.  His righteousness is a free gift.  To accept it means to owe Him everything.  If we make sure people take the time to count the cost, we might have fewer people claiming they have Jesus.  We might also have a few more whom Jesus has.  Jesus said to count the cost.  Jesus said to deny yourself.  Jesus said you must give up everything to follow Him.  So really, does the world need any more people with their “free” Christianity stuffed in the closet?

Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it — lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
     – Luke 14:25-35  NKJV