Jeremy L. Berg

My phone rang today.  I picked it up to hear those exciting words: “Congratulations!  You have won a free cruise!” Yeah, right.  What’s the catch?  This must be a scam.  I’ve never won any drawings I’ve entered.  Even though the voice on the other end was friendly and sounded sincere, I was a mean sounding, cynical jerk.

We live in a world full of schemers and scammers, cheaters and short-changers.  We’ve been conditioned to be skeptics and keep our guards up at all times. The wisest among us know that nothing is ever free and money always has strings attached.

So, I supposedly won a free cruise.  But I won’t take the next step to see if it’s really legit.  I don’t believe it.  So I’m walking away, and not cashing in.  I’m an unbelieving skeptic.

Since this is the world we live in, how many of us have a hard time believing the gospel of Jesus Christ because it just sounds too good to be true?  A free gift of God’s grace that I don’t have to — indeed, cannot — earn through my own good deeds?  Forgiveness with no strings attached?  Someone paying my price and asking only a grateful heart in return?  This must be a joke.  There must be a catch.

But the GRACE of God — God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense — is indeed scandalous. How many people hear the offer of the gospel and walk away because it’s too good to be true?  How many are waiting for more information on the 4-hour Time Share presentation in order to make it good?

Think about it.

In the meantime, I’m accepting God’s gift of salvation but I’ll pay for my own dang cruise!