“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! … Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” — Isaiah 55:1a, 6
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The word “offer” to a high school basketball player is a huge deal when they are considering opportunities to continue to play in college. These days, college basketball scholarship offers are few and far between for high school seniors because of the newly formed transfer portal, and even the impact of NIL money available to current college players.
Interestingly enough, God makes us an offer too. However, there are some major differences between the offers of the world and the offer of God. This does not necessarily mean offers from the world are inherently bad. Athletes, employers and people from all walks of life consider and evaluate offers all the time as a part of their daily lives, as they work hard to improve themselves and provide for their families.
However, consider for a moment a college basketball scholarship offer. The player has had to work hard to earn an offer and catch the attention of a coach. Once secured, a scholarship is usually transactional in nature. If the player performs well, they keep their roster spot. If the player’s performance dwindles, the player can lose their roster spot. In other words, the world’s offer is often temporary and usually financially driven in some way or another.
The world’s offer is often self-promoting as well. Again, there is certainly nothing wrong with receiving an offer. It is a great day! But social media posts are still often about the player’s accomplishment.
Finally, a scholarship offer or job offer for one person usually means someone else did not get the offer. Typically, there are only a limited number of players or people receiving offers. For example, a basketball team traditionally carries a 12-player roster.
Now, contrast an athletic scholarship offer with the offer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The offer of the Gospel is free, although Jesus paid an enormous price — dying on the cross for our sins — to make the offer possible. And we cannot work to receive this gracious offer of salvation. The offer is free also in the sense that it is not financially driven; there is no money involved or exchanged.
Once accepted, the Gospel offer moves from a gracious free offer to a transformational position before God. God’s offer of spiritual life changes the recipient over time as they grow more and more into the image of Jesus Christ.
The Lord’s offer is also unconditional. In other words, it is not performance-related. It is for eternity. It is an offer that can never be lost. When one shares about or posts the Good News of God’s free offer, it lifts up God and others rather than promoting self.
Finally, the offer of the Gospel is for everyone. God’s team has an unlimited number of roster spots!
As incredibly exciting as a college scholarship offer can be, or the offer of a new contract at a job, they all pale in comparison to the free offer of the Gospel found in Jesus Christ. It is no wonder the prophet Isaiah called everyone to come and “seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6, above).
— Frick Frierson
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