No Strings Attached

You've probably been on the receiving end of personalized mailings that offer prize packages such as a weekend getaway at a ski resort "ABSOLUTELY FREE." Assuming that you bother reading through this type of correspondence, your first thought might be, "Yeah, right. What's the catch?"

By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have been conditioned to be wary of gifts and favors that are bestowed on us unexpectedly. Often we view the giver's motives with a degree of cynicism because, after all, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

It would be quite easy to view God's promise of eternal life skeptically. We have never had to go out into the world and work for it. At times, we may even doubt that we deserve this gift. Yet it comes to us. And, what's more, it comes without a catch.

Paul's message to the Romans remind us that, as believers, we have been freed from servitude that, at best, earns us fleeting or temporary rewards. Instead of being enslaved by worldly masters, we are free to embrace the miraculous gift that God has bestowed upon us. We don't have to earn or even request this gift. We only need to believe - and receive.

The spirit of penitence associated with Lent encourages us to turn from the ways of the world and to reflect on the sorrowful image of Christ's crucifixion. But there is hope. Yes, Christ died on the cross, but his resurrection paved the way for our own journey through sin, darkness and death into salvation, light and life.

What greater gift have we been offered than the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus? The beauty of salvation is that it is indeed a free gift, one that comes without strings.

— Alice Ross

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist