June 09, 2008
Freebie
Not too long ago, I attended a trade show and met an exhibitor who had self-published a financial advice book. As I thumbed through his book and he said, “You can have the book if you promise you’ll read it.” So what could I say to that? No thanks, you can keep your book… Well, maybe I’ll read it and then again I might not… I took the freebie and walked away feeling very small. Attaching strings to things would be something I would expect from a parent. Can’t you hear a mother say, ‘you can go to the movie if you promise to take out the trash for a week’. Sometimes we believers subtly attach our own strings to Salvation. We know we’re saved but, to be really saved we need to regularly attend church, get into a Bible study and stop all our bad habits. Every once in awhile I get tangled up in my own strings. Then the Lord has to clip them and set me free again.
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Gail;
-----On most days, I would hand the book back to the author and tell him I won’t read it for whatever the actual reason is, handing the string back, too. But not because of the string alone. To me, the presence of a string simply calls for an extra decision. So I consider strings to be fair play on the part of the giver, as much as I consider rejection of both the gift and the string to be fair play on my part.
-----Similarly, when I was baptized I knew there was a string attached: repentance from my way and obedience to His. I evaluated the gift of eternal life as well as the limits placed upon my choice of future behavior by it. Although there was much behavior I had hoped to enjoy, the attached string would tend to hold me from it. But the eternal life comforted my mind far more than did the inevitable fiery lake tied to the tail end of a wanton life of pleasure.
-----After I renounced my desires to live a life of self-indulgence, thus, securing a better outlook upon inevitability, I began to realize the Lord’s character was actually very attractive, even more than the wanton pleasures of my previous aims. The more His character attracted my attention, the more I found other strings attached to the partaking. If I wanted to feel His mercy within my being, I had to go be merciful to others. Otherwise, I could only know of His mercy. If I wanted to experience the effect of real kindness, I had to be really kind. Of course, many of His people were really kind to me anyway, but that produced only a surface feeling. To get it inside I had to do it.
-----After accepting many strings, and tying them up to me, I have even begun looking for strings. For with the Lord, to every string is attached an extra-meaningful gift. And these gifts, with their strings, do more than fill me up inside. They create in me little tidbits that seem to be beneficial to others. Being beneficial to others is ultimately what assures me that I am still attached to His string. And, at the right time, that one He will reel in to His place.
Love,
Steve Corey
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