I would like to take this opportunity to share a thought with you. I
pray that it will encourage and remind you of the greatness of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. May it remain in your heart all the days of
your life and may it greatly bless you.
This thought is centered on a word that we hear quite often nowadays, the word “Free”.
How many times have we heard of an ad that gives something away for free? Or read an article online that offers something for free?
I can assure you that I have seen plenty offers where there is some free giveaway. Sometimes you may be at the supermarket or the mall and there is a free sampling of a new product, etc.
There is something that I realized concerning those free products, many times, because we didn’t pay for them we tend not to take good care of them, as much as something that we would have paid with our own money. This is true especially when it comes to something that doesn’t have a high commercial value. Say for example that you were given a free bookmark. It’s a relatively cheap item that you may have accepted out of courtesy, you may hold on to it for a while but it may very well end up in the next bin that you encounter.
In my opinion this is based on two things, the first one is that it is something that was given to you freely and that you didn’t have to pay for. The second is that it may not necessarily be something that you value or it’s simply unimportant to you.
Now, with all this in mind I would like to ask you a question, were those items free? You may answer “yes” which would be correct because you didn’t have to pay for them and they had some value, as small as it may be. At this time I would like you to consider the other side of this equation. Think of it like this, whenever something is given away for free it had to have cost someone something. It may have been little, it may have been much, it may have been time, money, skills etc. Just think of it…
Consider this, an item is only free for the one that receives it, a price had to be paid somehow by one or many people.
Read the following passage of Scripture found in Ephesians 2 8-9 (KJV), “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
We read here that we are saved through faith and that it is a gift from God. This goes to show that salvation is not based on human efforts of abilities but on God’s gift to mankind.
The question is, do you know what that gift is? Let’s look at the following verses found in John chapter 3 and verses 16 and 17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
What a gift! Can you believe that? The gift in question here is Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. I can assure you that this gift not only was very valuable but the price that was paid was very high. To understand all this better I’ll invite you to read a few passages with me.
The first one is found in Isaiah 53:3-10 (KJV), "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."
This is a prophetic passage of scripture by the prophet Isaiah talking about the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and the suffering that He would have to go through during His earthly ministry.
The second passage is found in Matthew 16:21 (JKV), "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."
And our final one is Mark 10:33-34 (KJV), "Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again."
These are just a few passages that show us that Christ had to suffer many things at the hands of men and that it was for our sake. He was imprisoned, beaten, spat upon, mocked tortured with a crown of thorns placed on His head, He was crucified with criminals, nails pierced His feet and His hand and finally, He died.
It is written in Romans 10:9-10 (KJV), "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
You see salvation is accessible to any and everyone as long as they follow these principles. It’s not about what you have done or how you lived your life, whether good or bad, what matters at the end of it all is that you place your faith in Jesus Christ, God’s gift to the world for salvation.
Indeed, Jesus Christ, God’s gift to mankind is free for all those that receive Him but it did come at a price and a very high one. Today I would like to encourage you to place your faith in God and in His Son Jesus Christ because He is more than able to take care of you.
Value this gift with your life because Christ paid a price that no one else could have paid and suffered dearly so that we could be reconciled with God today.
A free gift like none else: Jesus Christ, the Son of God to the world.
Receive this gift today and treat it as it deserves to be treated, The Most Valuable Gift In The World.
May the Word of God bless your heart!
This thought is centered on a word that we hear quite often nowadays, the word “Free”.
How many times have we heard of an ad that gives something away for free? Or read an article online that offers something for free?
I can assure you that I have seen plenty offers where there is some free giveaway. Sometimes you may be at the supermarket or the mall and there is a free sampling of a new product, etc.
There is something that I realized concerning those free products, many times, because we didn’t pay for them we tend not to take good care of them, as much as something that we would have paid with our own money. This is true especially when it comes to something that doesn’t have a high commercial value. Say for example that you were given a free bookmark. It’s a relatively cheap item that you may have accepted out of courtesy, you may hold on to it for a while but it may very well end up in the next bin that you encounter.
In my opinion this is based on two things, the first one is that it is something that was given to you freely and that you didn’t have to pay for. The second is that it may not necessarily be something that you value or it’s simply unimportant to you.
Now, with all this in mind I would like to ask you a question, were those items free? You may answer “yes” which would be correct because you didn’t have to pay for them and they had some value, as small as it may be. At this time I would like you to consider the other side of this equation. Think of it like this, whenever something is given away for free it had to have cost someone something. It may have been little, it may have been much, it may have been time, money, skills etc. Just think of it…
Consider this, an item is only free for the one that receives it, a price had to be paid somehow by one or many people.
Read the following passage of Scripture found in Ephesians 2 8-9 (KJV), “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
We read here that we are saved through faith and that it is a gift from God. This goes to show that salvation is not based on human efforts of abilities but on God’s gift to mankind.
The question is, do you know what that gift is? Let’s look at the following verses found in John chapter 3 and verses 16 and 17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
What a gift! Can you believe that? The gift in question here is Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. I can assure you that this gift not only was very valuable but the price that was paid was very high. To understand all this better I’ll invite you to read a few passages with me.
The first one is found in Isaiah 53:3-10 (KJV), "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."
This is a prophetic passage of scripture by the prophet Isaiah talking about the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and the suffering that He would have to go through during His earthly ministry.
The second passage is found in Matthew 16:21 (JKV), "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."
And our final one is Mark 10:33-34 (KJV), "Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again."
These are just a few passages that show us that Christ had to suffer many things at the hands of men and that it was for our sake. He was imprisoned, beaten, spat upon, mocked tortured with a crown of thorns placed on His head, He was crucified with criminals, nails pierced His feet and His hand and finally, He died.
It is written in Romans 10:9-10 (KJV), "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
You see salvation is accessible to any and everyone as long as they follow these principles. It’s not about what you have done or how you lived your life, whether good or bad, what matters at the end of it all is that you place your faith in Jesus Christ, God’s gift to the world for salvation.
Indeed, Jesus Christ, God’s gift to mankind is free for all those that receive Him but it did come at a price and a very high one. Today I would like to encourage you to place your faith in God and in His Son Jesus Christ because He is more than able to take care of you.
Value this gift with your life because Christ paid a price that no one else could have paid and suffered dearly so that we could be reconciled with God today.
A free gift like none else: Jesus Christ, the Son of God to the world.
Receive this gift today and treat it as it deserves to be treated, The Most Valuable Gift In The World.
May the Word of God bless your heart!
Reference: #PRW0000005
