we all want a really good deal, something too good to be true and yet there it is, right in front of us, a great bargain, something we’ve been wanting, something we’ve been searching for, something we desperately desire, but haven’t been able to find – now the offer is given, it is made – we just have to decide whether to accept or to reject this offer that seems so ridiculously wonderful that we find ourselves questioning if it is even real or is it just a scam designed to deceive and to damage anyone foolish enough to fall for this unbelievable offer?

there are a lot of scams out there right now, but then there always have been – because there have always been people willing to take advantage of other people by deception and trickery. One simply can’t be too careful these days – or any days.

However, there is an offer, a long-time, standing offer, always on the table, that I would be foolish to overlook, to ignore or to turn down. It is an offer I simply can’t refuse – to do so would be the death of me. The promise does seem too good to be true. This offer is a free gift with huge benefits – but many consider the cost too high. Most are not willing to pay the price. (irony – a free gift with a high cost? how can this be? spoiler alert – that high cost has already been paid for me by Someone else – so now the gift is free to me)

So just what is this fabulous, life saving, life giving deal that I dare not refuse? Jesus reveals it when He extends this offer in Matthew 11:28-30 saying,

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

I am weary, I desire rest – especially rest for my soul. Rest for my body is easier to obtain (take a nap) but rest for my soul is totally elusive. And what is more, I wear myself out chasing after and searching for the soul rest I seek – the rest that my soul cries out for. So the cost is that I leave my yoke behind and instead I come to Jesus, I take His yoke, I learn from Him and I find rest for my soul in the process. come – take – learn – find. I can do that. What else is included in this “too good to be true” offer? Isaiah 1:18 tells me,

” ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’ ”

That’s something I need in order for my soul to rest – forgiveness. And forgiveness is part of this outlandish offer that I dare not refuse. This offer even comes with a promise (better known as a guarantee in the retail world) I find this guarantee in 1 John 1:9 which tells me,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The price is confession before God, the price is honesty and humility – but what a bargain I receive in return! the forgiveness of my sins, restoration of my relationship with my Heavenly Father, right standing with Him. Why would I not be willing to humble myself and honestly confess my sins and shortcomings before Him each day? What a generous offer of forgiveness and purification if I accept instead of refuse His invitation.

But there’s more to this offer, it is kind of a package deal. (isn’t that what bargains are? you purchase something but other things are thrown in as bonuses to sweeten the deal) John 1:11-12 tells me what I get in return for receiving Jesus because incredibly when Jesus came, there were those who did not receive Him. (I guess they could refuse His once in a lifetime offer?) Nevertheless I read,

“He (Jesus) came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -”

the price? receiving Jesus, believing Jesus. the purchase or the offer? becoming a child of God! priceless!

Being adopted into God’s family has a ton of benefits! I read about some of these in Psalm 103:2-18,

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. . . . The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. . . . He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. . . . as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. . . . from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.”

what a benefit package! with bonuses too numerous to enumerate them all. this list from Psalm 103 is just a preview, a glimpse of all that God gives to His adopted sons and daughters. the cost? I am to keep His covenant and obey His precepts. In return, I receive so many priceless gifts included in His offer – forgiveness, healing, redemption, rescue from the pit I dug for myself, love, compassion, giving me good things that satisfy me, renewing me, working righteousness and justice in my life and on my behalf, removing my transgressions and keeping His covenant not only with me but also with my children’s children!

I confess – this is way more than I deserve, way more than I could dare to hope for – and yet this is all part of the offer God makes available to me through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. I would be a fool to refuse this offer so full of life and of all things good and true. In fact, the missionary Jim Elliot said as much when he stated,

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

How true! This really is one offer I can’t refuse. Well, of course, the choice is ultimately mine to make – I could refuse God’s offer of eternal life with Him, but why would I do that? Do I think the cost is too high? giving up what I can’t keep anyway to gain what my Heavenly Father will keep secure for me until I need it – that doesn’t sound like a bad trade off at all. In fact, I say along with Paul, who wrote in his letter to Timothy,

“Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

So what would stop me from accepting this offer? It requires that I swallow my pride – is that too high a price? Repentance, confession, humility, acknowledging my need for a Savior – are those too costly for me to give? Losing my life to find it, doing things God’s way rather than my own way – is that too high a cost? Would that cause me to refuse this unrefusable offer from God?

Jesus declared, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) How can I refuse that offer? John 3:16 reveals God’s offer to me (and to each person) very clearly saying,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

cost – belief in Jesus; offer – eternal life. Romans 10:9-13 explains God’s offer this way,

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ”

Wow! an unrefusable offer with an irrefutable guarantee! cost – confess out loud, believe in my heart, trust in Jesus, call on Him; offer – eternal salvation. that’s an offer I can’t refuse, an offer I dare not refuse, an offer I can embrace with confidence – one that you can, too, dear readers . . . this offer is for everyone, while supplies last, of course – but being an infinite God, His supply of all that He is offering to you and to me will never run out – it will last for eternity.

sincerely, Grace Day