Day 61

I Have a Free Gift For You!

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:8

My husband and I went to Concord Mills the other day. While going in and out of shops I had a
lady from a booth in the walkway try to entice me to come see her products. I said no, but she
had the perfect catch phrase, "I have a free gift for you." She got me by the arm and led me
over to apply an ingredient that cleansed my skin. The old dry skin came rolling off and it
actually did feel a lot smoother afterwards. She talked about how it prevented pimples and how
it exfoliated the skin making it smooth and young. She observed my old age spots and honed in on how her product would make me younger. She started explaining how the two products
were usually sold separately; one for $69.00 and one for $120.00. But today, I could purchase
both for $69.00. I told her repeatedly that I was not going to buy the product but she kept
trying to talk me into it with her hand on my arm. Eventually she even pulled me over to the
cash register to show me an even better deal. I told her that she was really convincing but as I
said before I was not purchasing anything. Her attitude seemed to change. As I prepared to
leave I told her that I would be praying for her. She was a Jew, here from Israel she said and I do pray for the Jews and her country. In a condescending manner she said, "Oh, I will be praying for you too." I immediately prayed against any foolish prayers from her. I really don't think I wanted her praying for me. She had indicated she did not know Our Father and I sensed her prayers would be against me, not for me. This ladies approach got me thinking! We have available the greatest gift of all yet we keep it to ourselves. We don't go out of our way to offer it to the passerby. We often don't say a word. We might need to offer a smile, a touch, a promise to pray for them in their circumstances, or a word of witness as to how Jesus coming into your heart has changed you.
I also envisioned how the enemy works to draw us in with promises of this and that. He tries to
hold on to us and entice us to purchase his products with promises of what he can provide. But God always makes a way out of his clutches.

 We can choose to stand our ground and say, "NO."

Sometimes we yield and then walk away wondering how in the world we fell for his lies. We can get drawn in even when our intentions to speak a word of hope to them is pure. Satan can hold on to us (strongholds) in such a way that if we don't have our armor on and stand on the Word of God, we can be drawn in to his schemes.

By the way, I never did see a "free gift." Praise Him we can give out His free gift of salvation to
all who will receive. I praise Him for the opportunity to share with this young lady. I can still see her face. So blinded! What a great reminder to pray, not only for her, but for her people to receive God's grace.

-Sandra Kearns