Free Is Free

Scott McFarland
12/10/23 - Sun AM Worship

Free is Free

Has anyone ever given you anything and not wanted anything for it?  Ever tried to pay them for it?  This actually just happened to me the other week.  I think most of us struggle to accept gifts from people…it’s in our nature to earn things.  We are told from the time we are little children that we need to work for what we have, so we display good behavior to get a treat and do chores or jobs to earn money, all with the understanding that we “worked for it.”

In almost every human scenario, this is a good thing.  We teach our children positive qualities like work ethic, not taking what isn’t ours, fairness, etc.  But, in God’s economy it doesn’t work.  The problem is, we started with a debt we could never pay off.  There’s a story in Matthew 18 Jesus tells about a servant who was forgiven an unpayable amount of money.  The debt was so much that it would take multiple lifetimes to pay it back.  It was so much that, in preparation for an attempt to pay it back, the servant was preparing to be sold into slavery, along with his wife, children and all he had.  At the last hour, he is granted forgiveness by his master.  This is, in so many ways, a picture of what Jesus has done for us.  We started with something so big it would never have been repaid except by our life.  At the last minute, when it seemed like all was lost, God stepped in with His Son Jesus.

But, the catch is you can’t pay for it.  You can’t earn it.  Today, we’ll talk about what this means and why it’s so important that we accept that free is free.  Enjoy the gift.  Appreciate it.  And don’t try to pay for it—you can’t!

Scott McFarland