DAILY DEVOTIONAL – April 22, 2020
“Outrageously Affordable“
Prayer: Almighty God, even with a thousand lifetimes of our best works, we could never repay the debt that we owe because of our sin against You. In our hearts, we know the hole our sin has dug us. But in Your amazing grace and love, You have pulled us from the pit, You have forgiven our debt freely, not because there is no cost, but because You gave Your Son Jesus who paid the price of our salvation with His own blood. Thank you Jesus. Amen.
Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-3
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Devotional – “Outrageously Affordable”
What an invitation we read here in Isaiah 55. “Come you who have no money and buy honey, wine and milk without money and without price.”
Truth be told, if you and I were to hear or see an ad that said something like that on the television or radio, our first thought would be, “Yeah, what’s the catch?” As the saying goes, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Right? Wrong! God’s Word often describes salvation as a giant feast, a giant, heavenly and eternal party celebrating and honoring the Suffering Servant, the Son of God, Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. The eternally satisfying salvation of God is an absolutely free gift, because the cost of entrance into the Marriage Feast of the Lamb has been paid in full in the blood of Jesus.
Having spent my fair share of time in the sales world, I can tell you from experience that there are two general tactics used to maximize profits. These tactics go by many names, but pretty much all sales strategies fall into these two general categories. The first is called the upsell. This is also known as the “bait and switch”. A salesman or advertisement will get your attention by advertising a price that is so low you can’t help but inquire further. Once they get you in the store or on the phone then they tell you all the other things you need or show you how the low price only applies to the product or model nobody really wants.
The second tried and true method of a salesman is called the downsell. When downselling a potential customer, a salesman will start by trying to sell you a product or service that they know is too expensive and that you are not very likely to be interested in. Their goal in starting so high is to make you feel more and more comfortable with them and with purchasing what they are selling as they gradually take you down in cost to products that are more suitable for you and attractive to your wallet.
Could you imagine if you met a salesman who was trying to sell you something that you really wanted, something you really needed…for free?! No gimmicks, no catch, no upsell or downsell, just a salesman pleading with you, “Please buy this product! It is exactly what you need. It has a lifetime warranty, it will never fail or falter and all you have to pay is $0.” Imagine this salesman even provides all the necessary paperwork for both you and him to sign; that proves and makes binding this sale of $0.
Now, imagine someone insisting that they pay for it anyway. Imagine refusing to receive the absolutely and guaranteed free product, and demanding that you pay double what the product should normally cost.
As ridiculous as insisting to pay for a free product you really need may seem, that is exactly what our tendency is when it comes to the grace and forgiveness of God. In the sinfulness of our humanity and twisted way of thinking, there is something admittedly preposterous about God giving us His love and salvation for absolutely free. We know we don’t deserve it. We know we deserve His judgement instead, and as much as we don’t want or like to admit our sin, it is that very sin that causes us to question God’s graciousness and instead try to purchase or secure our salvation on our own dime. The problem is, we are flat broke when it comes to being righteous enough or faithful enough to earn God’s grace…and not one of us would survive the attempt to account for and pay for our own sins.
If we are honest, we have all tasted the bitter wine and stale bread that our good works and our own self-righteousness can afford to buy. If we desire to be truly satisfied both in this life and the next, regardless of how much we can or cannot afford, than we must receive the invitation God gives to be filled freely by His love and mercy in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:20-23, “20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
No doubt we are always looking for a good deal, but when it comes to our salvation, we shouldn’t be looking for the cheapest or most affordable offer. When it comes to our eternal salvation and the life our souls desire, we should be looking for the single-most and outrageously expensive offer available. The last thing we want is cheap grace. As theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
If we are to be saved from our sin and from the death our sin has brought upon us, we need the best and most expensive solution there is…and there is nothing more precious, nothing more eternally valuable than the perfect blood of Jesus Christ given and shed for you and for me.
“You get what you pay for” right? No my friends, in God’s economy of grace, we freely get what Christ has paid for. So receive God’s offer of salvation when He says, “Come and buy without money…incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live.”
Thanks for spending time with me today in God’s Word, and remember that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
