Always looking for the deal!

     On the way home from an appointment yesterday I decided, on a whim, to stop at a local Home Depot and check out their clearance items in the garden section.  I hadn't been there in quite a long time.  I walked into the first display and there they were!  Azaleas, 4 for $10!  They were healthy and in the colors I like.  Of course I bought 8!  But wait there's more!  I also found some flowers and some tomato plants and bought them too!  $46 later I packed up the plants and went home.  The deal was too good to pass up.  We look for the deals when we have a mindset to look, lack of money to pay full price and sometimes by compulsion.  When I thought of the deal on the plants I had a number of things go through my mind.  First was where to plant them.  I had ample places to plant everything I was buying.  Second was whether they would compliment what I already have.  They scored in that area as well.  Third, were they something I could afford.  Yes they were!  When I arrived at home I immediately began planting.  Still have 4 plants to go.
     Whether it's looking for the lowest price of gas or the best sales on groceries, we look for the deal.  Sometimes the deal is intentionally found and other times it's a surprise; like yesterday.  If we want the deal enough we can always wait for it or make it happen by talking the price down.  The deal is best utilized in areas where we care enough to make it happen.  So, making deals are a part of life for me.  Unfortunately, there is one area where deals cannot be made and the best deal is given to us free.  You would think that people would jump at a free deal immediately and tell their friends and relatives where they too can get this free deal.  I'm not talking about the internet where you can get free jeans if you forward an email to enough people and they do the same.  I'm talking about our need for salvation and the free gift to us of Jesus' work on the cross bringing about the salvation we need.  Do we, as Christians, look at what we have in Christ as the best deal that ever happened?  Do we feel the need to place Him foremost in our life?  Have we the deep need to share with others this free gift or are we reticent to share at all?
     The real deal.  All other deals pale in comparison.  What makes us so selfish to take the free deal and not want to give the free deal to others?   We tend to share other things quite willingly and openly with others.  Such as our love food, friendship and worldly pleasures.  There is nothing wrong with any of those if we do not sin in so taking.  Food is necessary but not to the point of overeating (I'm guilty).  Friendship is great as long as our motives are right.  Do we have friendships so that we can borrow their stuff but not lend ours?  It's a sin.  Worldly pleasures are deemed to be sin or not sin mostly because of our mindset and the condition of our heart.  It's okay to have a boat and skis just as it's okay to give that same boat to someone in greater need than ours.  But, have you seen the number of boats that have clearly been sitting for years never seeing water?  I have.  Do we treat what Jesus has given us with the same attitude?  Do we see him as the provider that can be called on in times of greatest needs only to be set aside the following day after our need has been met?
     Just what is the deal for you and I?  I'd like to suggest we reconsider how we look at the precious gift of grace that God has given us through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus.  How precious is the "deal"?  What priority have you given to God in your life?  If someone looked at our lives would they see Jesus?  These questions and more can only be answered by you and I for ourselves.  Let our decision be the deal Jesus offers of salvation.  It's the sweetest of deals!