Week 3: Without Cost

DEVOTIONAL:

I remember a test I once took in seminary. One of the questions was true/false, and the statement was simply this: “Grace is free.” How would you have answered? It was intended to be a trick question. From God’s perspective, grace is actually incredibly costly. It cost him the life of his only beloved Son. For believers however—the beneficiaries of Jesus’ work—grace is free, given through faith and not by works. It is received, not achieved. That is the truth John reminds us of in verse 6: “He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.’” In a transactional world where everything must be paid for and earned, Jesus offers waters of eternal life without cost. They are not for sale, but offered as a gift, obtained not by doing but by believing.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. How does a transactional mindset differ from a grace-centered mindset?

2. In what ways does “performance-ism” (the belief that your identity rests on your achievements) affect you on a day-to-day basis? Does it ever infiltrate your relationship with God?

3. Read Isaiah 55:1-5. What do you notice about “the waters” offered here? How should this impact our witness for Christ (see verse 5)?