Lent: Journey According To LukeSample

FREE BUT NOT CHEAP!

DEVOTION
The message of this passage is: salvation is free, but it is not cheap. Does this sound like a paradox? If a gift is really free, can it cost you something to receive it?

Of course! If you were given a car as a free gift, you would actually still have to count the cost of whether or not you could afford to maintain it. You would have to pay for a license tag, motor oil, gasoline, and insurance. None of these payments go to the giver for they are simply inherent in the very nature of the gift itself. Salvation is that kind of free gift. Christ has already purchased it with his own blood. There is nothing more we need to do to obtain what he has given to us freely. However, accepting this free gift is going to cost us something and the cost is the cross… to deny self, take up our cross, and follow him.

FOR REFLECTION
• Jesus says discipleship is costly – what does that mean in your life?
• Taking up your cross is a very positive act – how will that affect your work, home or friendships?

PRAYER
Father, my salvation is free, but it is not cheap. It cost Jesus everything. He made the payment in full simply because he loved me. I’m forever grateful. Please give me the grace to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow you. Amen.