Years ago, I opened an account with a new bank. I picked it because it had the tallest building in town. After opening the account, I got a letter in the mail containing what looked like a check for $150. It appeared to be some kind of promotional bonus for banking with them. Cool, I thought, free money.

To cash it, I had to go to the bank. This was before the days of mobile app deposits. I took that check to the teller, excited about what $150 could be used for. She looked at me sheepishly, almost as if she was embarrassed.

"Uhh. You don't want to cash that," she said in a bit of a whisper, glancing around as if she were a part-time spy.

"What do you mean? It's free money, right?"

"Not exactly. Look at the fine print," she said as she turned it over in my hand.

There were all kinds of stipulations and qualifiers. I don't remember the specifics, but I remember that she was right. I was extremely appreciative of that teller, and her honesty is one of the reasons I still use that bank. She was looking out for my interests over and above the interests of her employer.

It's experiences like this that make us feel as if nothing could truly be free. But there is a type of free that we can relate to. In fact, there are many times in my life when I have enjoyed a free benefit. In the cases when I received something free, it was always paid for by someone else.

This is exactly how God's grace works. It's both free and costly in this sense: It's free to us, but it cost Jesus everything. It's incredibly important to remember who paid for our grace. It wasn't, isn't, and never will be you who pays for eternal life. That's because it cost too much. You can't afford it, and it would negate its freeness if you tried.

Jesus paid the ultimate price so that we could receive the free gift of eternal life. All we have to do is believe in Him to receive it. It's that simple, and that profound.

This blog is based on "Eternal Life: Believe To Be Alive" by Lucas Kitchen. To see all of Lucas Kitchen's books go to here.