I am sitting in Peet’s, waiting for my free coffee, along with about 70 other patrons lured by the offer of a free beverage, any size!  Of course, after we ordered, we heard the wait to receive it was forty minutes to an hour.  Given our local minimum wage, this comes out to $13 for a $5 drink.  It makes me laugh to see how we are suckers for something free – along with the subconscious theory that free samples have no calories.  (Of course, I’m here waiting, too, buy hey, I have a chance to write, so it’s a win-win for me!)  Seeing the quantity of hopeful humans in this shop reminded me of a more unpleasant experience of free goodies.

I was at a large Fourth of July event – the San Francisco Symphony was to play during the fireworks, preceded by picnicking on the lawn, live entertainment, and activities.  Vendor tents offered giveaways (spin the wheel for a chance to win a pair of sunglasses!) and free samples of bottled juices and packaged snacks.  Crowds dressed in red, white, and blue pressed in for the free boxes of cookies, shoving, jostling, grabbing.  Honestly, it made me a bit ashamed of America, this frenzy to seize and hoard unnecessary stuff.  It’s not like any of us were starving refugees desperate for a bag of rice with a legitimate reason to clamor so.  There was something about the lure of free goodies that brought out the feral in many.

Today at the coffee shop, at least, people are pleasant and orderly.  As we laugh together at ourselves for the allure of a free coffee, it also reminds me of another free gift we have been offered:  eternal life in Jesus, far more valuable than a cup of coffee.  We don’t have to wait in line for it, though Jesus does ask us to surrender the rest of our lives to him, and there is no jostling, shoving competition necessary – his free gift is for all, abundantly.  Who will receive it?

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.  Revelation 22:17