by Ryan Geller
” For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
The free gift… where does your mind go when you hear something is free? Do you immediately think, “it’s too good to be true” or perhaps you are the pessimist and think to yourself, “what’s the catch?” Both of these responses are common, and even understandable given the world we live. Most people seem to have an angle they are working or are looking out for number one. But you know who usually does not ask many questions when it comes to receiving a free gift? Those who don’t have much at all, those who are in the greatest need. For a couple of years, I helped out at a homeless shelter where we offered two hot meals, a bed to sleep in to escape the cold, a shower, and change of clothes; and all of it was free. Not once did I have one of the guests come to me and ask, “what’s the catch?” or “this is just too good to be true!” No, instead they mostly showed up, week after week, received their food, clothing and cot, took a shower and said thank you.
In Enzo’s story he is offered this free gift, salvation, not when he was on top of the world living the life of a gangster, but after he fell off the edge, after he saw his own sin and realized the life he was living was no life at all. It is in that lowly condition that the grace of God, this free gift, is ready to be received. It is only to the one who knows his guilt, and recognizes not that the gift is too good to be true, but rather that it has to be true or there is no other hope. It’s only when we recognize our own spiritual poverty and need for help.
Perhaps that is you today, perhaps you were once on top of the world and you finally hit bottom, asking yourself what good could possibly come of this? To you, God offers His free gift. Accepting it in your lowly condition leaves you no room to boast, but whom are we really fooling anyway? There is no boasting in what we don’t have. Accept His gift by turning from that which is destroying you and trusting in the Jesus for true life today.
