Some online advertisements have me shaking my head. People are selling duplicate products or unwanted items, like appliances and electronics, for example. The pricing sounds reasonable, until I start to read the details.
Won this as a prize, but don’t need it… or Got this as a gift, but already have one…
I wonder what drives someone to charge others for a free gift that they’d received? If you didn’t pay for it—didn’t even open the box to look at the item, sometimes—why charge someone else? Why not regift it? Or pass it along to someone who needs it?
Instead they’ve attached a price tag on items that they freely received, hoping to gain value from something they didn’t invest in.
The rich, young ruler (from Matthew 19) strikes me as a hard worker. Doing, studying, learning, mastering the way of life in order to succeed. While we don’t know his actual name, we do know this important detail: he’s rich. Despite all he had and could buy for himself, something was still missing deep down in his heart.
But the suggestion from Jesus rocked him to the core. Sell? EVERYTHING? And give all the proceeds to the poor? Then he could follow Jesus?
Nah! How could he give a free handout to people who haven’t done what he did to get it?
We all have been given this same free gift. Jesus took my place, when He died for my sins. He took your place too. There are no price tags attached or conditions involved. Once we accept it, if we accept it, this gift is ours. This is the world’s most expensive and precious gift.
We’ll be tempted to profit from a free gift again and again. What will you choose to do?
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{Linking up with five minute Friday community}