Free Gifts

  I have had a few things in my life that I received as a result of doing something.  In other words, I earned what I was about to receive.  It may have been a paycheck or a prize.  It was just something that I got as a result of accomplishing something for someone else.  I fulfilled a goal of some sort in order to receive.  On the flip side, there have been very few things that I have received as a result of doing absolutely nothing.  Why even the list of the fictitious Santa Clause depended upon who was naughty or nice.  I recall going down to a university to apply for a scholarship.  I was to play the bassoon for them and then they would say whether I got a scholarship or not and there were only eight of them to give.  Well, I got one of them so they must have approved of what they heard.One of the most sought after things in life however, is often ignored.  It is the gift of salvation.  Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  It is amazing to note how many of the world’s religions are based upon works of one sort or another.  It may be the number of flowers you sell or the number of prayers you pray or the number of converts you make or the number  of kind deeds that you perform.  Whatever it is, the end result is that it is a work of some sort or another.  You see, my efforts cannot add anything to what God has so adequately done in the first place.  God has supplied the perfect salvation and there is nothing that I can do to improve on what He has already done.  So, He made it a completely free gift.  Notice that it is what is said in the passage.  It is the gift of God and not of works.  Not one work can make it any better than it already is.  It is perfect in every detail.  I can’t play the bassoon or pray a number of prayers or live the good life.  It is a free gift and like all gifts, all I need to do is to receive it in the simplicity  in which it is given.  There is, however, an interesting side note which we find in the third verse in today’s passage.  We do “good works” not for our salvation, but because of our salvation, so works are there, present in every life of every believer because of what God has already done in our lives in this amazing gift of salvation.  So, praise God today for this amazing gift that you could not earn and just rejoice in it.