WACKY WEDNESDAY WISDOM: Free For the Taking
Here's the scene: I'm in my truck, driving on a side road just outside of Lincolnton, NC. That's when I saw it. Bigger than life, plain as day, just off the side of the road. A few seconds it disappeared in my rear view mirror, like a ton of bricks the thought hit me. "I've got to turn around. I can't pass this by." Within seconds, I spotted what looked a suitable spot to turn around. So back I went.
More about that later. But in the meantime, I've been noticing lately that human beings, sometimes adult ones, will do some crazy stuff to get something free. Case in point: I was at a ballgame recently and some sort of Marketing/Public Relations person started taunting the fans in the stands with a neatly rolled up T-shirt. Who knows what words were on the front of the shirt but no matter, everyone in the stands wanted it. So in what is typical fashion for PR people with T-shirts, cheerleaders with miniature plastic footballs, and rock stars with various articles of clothing ripped from their sweaty bodies, this particular individual put his hand to his ear and beckoned the crowd to holler, scream, and otherwise make fools of themselves in an attempt to entice him to toss the T-shirt in their vicinity.
He then raised his hands toward the heavens, waving them wildly in an attempt to increase the fervor to even greater decibels. And everyone accommodated his desire. Everyone, that is, except for me. First off, I don't like to be manipulated. Secondly, I was beyond his range, especially considering he didn't have one of those tubes they shoot free T-shirts out of at ballgames and such.
Why are all these folks acting the fool just for a 5 dollar T-shirt that may or may not have something written on it that they wouldn't be caught dead wearing in public? If I wanted the T-shirt, all I would have to do is boogie on down to the thrift store a year or two from now and I could purchase it for a buck, two bucks at the most.
I think I know why people go bananas for the T-shirt. Because it's free. We all want something free and we really don't care what it is. As long as there is no cost involved, we want a piece of it.
Not so fast. There are exceptions. A friend of mine and I were selling items at a flea market some years back and I had this piece of junk styrofoam statue of an ancient explorer of some sort and I knew it was pretty much worthless, so I put a price tag of 25 cents on it, which was pretty much free. After a couple hours, my partner bought it from me for a quarter and put a $5 price tag on it. Ten minutes later he sold it for $3. We laughed our fool heads off.
Which leads me to my recent journey through Lincolnton. I grew up a few miles away in Cherryville so I can pick on my fine friends there, mainly because they have plenty they can pick on me about as well. On the evening in question, I passed by a three seater couch placed just off the side of the road in the front yard of what appeared to be a nice home. The sign attached to the couch said "FREE", indicating that all you had to do to was stop and throw it in the back of your truck if you wanted it. I returned to the scene not to claim it, but rather to take a picture of it.
As I drove away, I wondered if this sort of thing happens in places other than the South. Maybe my friends that are Northern, Midwestern, Southwestern, and West Coast can fill me in as to how often free couches are displayed along the road in their neighborhoods.
The Bible makes it abundantly clear that the greatest gift a person can ever receive is totally free. It is the gift of Grace, which provides forgiveness for all of our sins. There is no cost. Jesus paid that price for us all those many years ago on a cross. All we have to do is accept that gift with an open heart. And in doing so, it will transform our lives now and guarantee that we will have eternal life later with our Lord and Savior.
Which is encouraging considering that most of us enjoy stuff that's free, whether it be T-shirts, defunct couches, or styrofoam explorer statues. So go bananas, people, the gift of Grace is free, and the Lord is waving it above his head, beckoning you to simply ask for it. And the best news is there's plenty for everyone.
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