Are You Sure It's Free?

I recently read a post called, "Believing or false belief?" In it the writer talks about the magnitude of this idea that for no other reason than because of love, Jesus died for us. Wow! I am certain that this writer addressed something that for many Christians, we continually grasp to understand fully this idea of grace. I grew up with this same sort of thought about my salvation...scratching my head and asking, "Are you sure it's free?" Crazy! Today, as much as I'd like to believe I have grown leaps and bounds in my spiritual walk...occasionally, I look back on the pathway that I have traveled and I look for some sort of toll road that I must pay to continue. When I got baptized, I remember thinking, "This is it?" "Isn't there something else I need to do?" Of course, you and I both know that there was much more that God was requiring of me. The water...while not magical by any means...made a statement to the world that I, like Jesus, knew I needed a Father. While Jesus did this to "fulfill righteousness" I believe with my heart that He just wanted to be the example for us. After surrendering my life to Christ...taking it back more times than I can count...and finally coming to the end of myself...I realized this simple fact: I was lost...really lost and then...suddenly for no other reason than because of love, my Savior reached through hell to rescue me. I don't understand it...I guess I never will and I can't begin to tell you how many times I attempted to return this free gift to Him. Looking back on this journey...I realize that for some time, grace eluded me. Yes, I knew I was a Christian...yes, I knew that I wanted to live with reckless abandon for Jesus...but something was holding me back. As I sat in a counselor's office trying to sort out the twists and turns that had gotten me so off course....I finally heard a message that only years later finally, finally sunk in. You see, ironically enough, my counselor's name was "Grace." Funny, right...because the whole time I went to Grace...I never really WENT TO GRACE. Now years later, I find myself sharing the time of my life where I realized how lost I really was and the minute I began telling about Grace...the irony of it all finally sunk in. You see, I'm a little slow sometimes and obviously need some processing time to make sense of it all. Now...I find myself using my gifts from God, not because they are a payment of some kind for that toll...but because of love. His love and now...mine. I do work at church...I am a minister (oh...not a paid one...but a minister none the less) and find that while I didn't understand this free gift years ago and still have trouble explaining it to myself some days...I will live this life of mine recognizing daily this sacrifice for me.

I've heard it said, "If there were no one else in the world...Christ would have still died...just for you." So...what about you? Go on...take this free gift...embrace it and look grace straight in the face and see that One who gave it to all of us...unconditional.

May God bless you on the road to living in grace. May He wrap you up and seal it tightly around you to wear with pride. When others see you...they won't understand it...but...they will see a peace in you that says it all....grace!