As I was reading Jon’s recent post, I thought about all those apps in our lives that provide us with all that handy content. We must give up our personal information to get that content – but we have to be willing to see the ads they serve us – and be tempted to respond to the ads.

I grew up hearing the phrase “the free gift of salvation.“

It’s not free.

‘Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.’ (Matthew 16:24-25)

But the peace that comes from giving up yourself to Jesus is the deepest and richest sense of freedom known to humankind.

And of course, there’s the ultimate price that was paid – when Jesus died for us so that we could have salvation.

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Sometimes we ask God for things, not knowing what the price will be.

I think of Israel, looking at other nations and seeing that they had kings. They said, “We want a king too.” God said, “I’m your king.” They said, “But we want one that we can see and hear.” God said, “That’s not really the best thing for you, but if it’s what you want, I will let you have it.” (That’s my paraphrase of 1 Samuel 8.)

It would be worth pausing a bit before we ask God for something that we want. On the other hand, God is always open for conversation!

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Paul Merrill writes here every first Friday.

The image was created using Microsoft Copilot and edited with Photoshop by Paul.