I like free stuff.\u00a0 Free food; free gifts; free time.\u00a0 I even like buy-one-get-one-free sales at the grocery store.\u00a0 I don’t think I am unique in this.\u00a0 There seems to be something in most all of us that finds it hard to resist something free.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, I bought some chicken for lunch.\u00a0 Since I had to wait 11 minutes for it to cook, they gave me a cup for a free drink.\u00a0 I didn’t really want a drink, but I took it . . .\u00a0 because it was free.\u00a0 I filled the cup half full of lemonade then sipped on it while waiting for the chicken to cook.\u00a0 When the chicken was done, I picked it up, tossed the cup, and left.\u00a0 Then on the way home I thought “Man!\u00a0 I should have filled up that cup and brought it home.”\u00a0 I hate wasting a “free” opportunity, even if it is something I don’t really want.\u00a0 I have a closet full of free stuff.\u00a0 Stuff I’ll probably never use.\u00a0 But hey, it was free, so I took it.<\/p>\n
This morning, as I think about that drink, I realize\u00a0it wasn’t really free.\u00a0 It was in fact payment for 11 minutes of my time.\u00a0 When I stop to consider the costs, I realize that most things are not free.\u00a0 TANSTAAFL as the saying goes.\u00a0 There-Aint-No-Such-Thing-As-A-Free-Lunch.\u00a0 Some people more than others have come to realize the TANSTAAFL principle and are suspecious of anything free.\u00a0 When you take something for free, there’s usually strings attached.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve even learned to say “no” to at least a few free things.\u00a0\u00a0 No free nights at a resort hotel; I don’t want to spend three hours listening to a sales pitch for a time share.\u00a0 I’ll pass on the free carpet cleaning and lawn care estimates too.\u00a0 A wise person will take the time to count the cost before stuffing his closet full of free stuff.\u00a0 That goes for beach bags as well as the biggest free gift of all.<\/p>\n
Jesus promised eternal life as a free gift.\u00a0 We Christians spend plenty of time telling people about the grace of God and the “free gift” Jesus’ death on the cross provided.\u00a0 “Stop trying to work your way to Heaven,” we say.\u00a0 “Accept the free gift,” we preach.\u00a0 While it is true, sometimes I wonder if it is the right approach.\u00a0 Maybe we should say “Are you sure you want to be a Christian?\u00a0 Perhaps you better count the cost.”\u00a0 It might be a tougher sales pitch, but to a world that’s increasingly becoming cynical of “free,” it might be a good approach.<\/p>\n
Is real\u00a0Christianity\u00a0free?\u00a0\u00a0Eternal life cost more than any of us could pay, so Jesus paid it\u00a0for\u00a0us.\u00a0 His righteousness is a free gift.\u00a0 To accept\u00a0it\u00a0means\u00a0to owe\u00a0Him everything.\u00a0 If we make sure people take the time to count the cost, we might have fewer people claiming they have Jesus.\u00a0 We might also have a few more whom Jesus has.\u00a0 Jesus said to count the cost.\u00a0 Jesus said to deny yourself.\u00a0 Jesus said you must give up everything to follow Him.\u00a0 So really, does the world need any more people with their “free” Christianity stuffed in the closet?<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0\u00a0And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.\u00a0\u00a0For 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.’\u00a0\u00a0Or 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?\u00a0\u00a0Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.\u00a0\u00a0So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” I like free stuff.\u00a0 Free food; free gifts; free time.\u00a0 I even like buy-one-get-one-free sales at the grocery store.\u00a0 I don’t think I am unique in this.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Since I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[106,107,105,108],"class_list":["post-982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consider","tag-christianity","tag-cost","tag-discipleship","tag-free"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=982"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1001,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions\/1001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markspruill.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Luke 14:25-35\u00a0 NKJV<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"