You like to receive something, when it is free. You get some food coupons in the mail, and they give you a free food item. You may not have ever bought that item before, but you get it now, all because it is free. As you are shopping, you notice that if you buy two or three of a particular item, you get another one free. So, what do you do? Of course, you buy enough to get the free item.
One thing you notice though, is that anything really valuable, it does not come free. In school, if you want good grades, you must study hard. At work, that promotion goes to the employee who works hard. You get the impression that everything in life worth having, is not free.
This philosophy carries over into your spiritual life. You think that the way to heaven must be obtained by something you do. “If I could preach justification to be bought or to be had by walking a hundred miles or by some torture, who would not seek it? But when it is offered freely, men turn away . . . What poor ideas men have of the value of Christ’s gospel if they think they can buy it!” (Charles H. Spurgeon). Many think that if it is free, then it cannot be worth much. After all, anything worth having, you must work for.
That is a sad thought, which the Scriptures contradict. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23; NKJV). Your whole life can be summarized by spiritual death. You deserve to go to hell. There is only one way to avoid this. You get to live eternally in heaven by having a personal relationship with Christ. It is a “gift,” so it is free.
Do you have your free ticket to heaven? It comes only through Christ. That free gift is not worth missing!
