IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT, “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH.” But, I have found there are some lunches that are free, though they often carry a responsibility attached to them. Some might call that “responsibility” a “cost,” but I would rather understand it as a proper re-sponse to a delicious free lunch.
Some of these “free lunches” that I have enjoyed came with the re-sponsibility of spending an extended time with people that I enjoy, hardly a cost to pay. Sometimes the responsibility came in the form of helping with the clean-up after the meal. That only seems fair. There have been times that I needed to provide the transportation to the meal that would be later paid for by the one I was transporting. Seems reasonable, I was going to have to drive somewhere anyway. Again, no real extra cost to me. And of course, there is the responsibility of saying, “Thank you!” af-ter the meal is over. Yes, I do believe I have enjoyed some free lunches, and considering the gift, I can’t consider my responsibility to the giver any real cost to me.
In some ways this “free lunch” idea is like God’s grace. We are told that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) And that this “gift” is a gift of grace, without cost, and without the ability to be earned. God has given us this grace-gift in and through His Son, Jesus Christ, as expressed in His death upon the cross for us and His glorious resurrection.
As with the free lunches which I enjoyed carried a certain response ability, so does God’s free gift of life through Jesus. That response means getting to spend time with the Lord, as if over a leisurely meal. It means helping with the clean-up from time to time. It may even involve helping others attend the meal, and certainly it always involves an eternal and heart-felt, “Thank you!”
Free? Yes! But, with a proper response from us. Come on, lunch is served.