Some "deals" are too good to be true because they aren't true. A fellow thought he'd made a sweet deal over the internet and even met the seller in person who exchanged the car, title, and keys for the agreed-on amount of money. Later the police came to his home and confiscated the car which had been stolen. The "sweet deal" ended up being sour.

We are leary of sales gimmicks and scams that take advantage of the unsuspecting. The Lord is completely opposite. When we give our life in faith to Christ, we are also given an honest message as to what it means to be His disciple: the commitment of our whole heart and life. Jesus taught that we were to count the cost of what it means to love the Lord above all other relationships and things.

Instead of using trickery or deceit, He calls us to a cross. He said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, and take up their cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23.

Denying ourselves to put the Lord first involves living in contradiction to our selfish desires and embracing His. It involves rejecting the continual appeals to go a different way than the Lord's way revealed in His Word. It means strongly rejecting the temptations the Devil brings to us and forsaking our former life that was based on sensuality, pride, and conformity to the world.

God's grace and forgiveness are free. Jesus Christ purchased our salvation on the cross and the work is complete. Yet that grace isn't cheap. It is worthy of God's call on our lives to entrust our all to Him in love, devotion, and obedience.

Pastor Greg Brownell

Dayton United Brethren Church