I think you have missed the point here. We present salvation as a free gift.
Is that true? Your example says, "No!"
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Oh, salvation is free alright, no problem there. But after our salvation we are to...build up our treasures in Heaven, right? That's the part that is not free. We know there is rank in heaven. Some will be called the least in heaven. Others will be the greatest. So by our actions on earth we make our station in Heaven.
If you join the Marines and you decide that you want to be a Marine Raider, then you got some more training to do than your buddies, lol. For to whom more is given, more is required of him. When you sign up, in a practical sense it is not free because you are about to be tested. And it is hard. And one either has the capacity to endure it or not. Some do some dont, some will some wont. Some guys think, hey, when the Raiders regiment gets in trouble who do they send to rescue them?
So marines or the Kingdom of God will weed out the weak ones. You either hang in there or you dont! If a guy is thinking hmm, maybe I should join the Marines, but if I dont like it what will be the best way for me to go AWOL at that point? I think those men should, check their pulse for they may be dead already. "It's not free" is code talk for, I dont want to help. What kind of man thinks that way?! So it will cost you, Blood, Sweat, and Tears. So what, what does that mean? It means I am alive, I am a man. I can help. I will do it.
I remember one time I was working for an Plumbing & Heating company that was a Carrier Dealer. And they had installed one of Carrier's top of the line units in a customers house and it working right. It was a 90%+ efficient furnace (and they can be tricky). They had sent 6 different guys out to this guys house to try to make the furnace work right, it keeps shutting down and it's been almost 3 weeks since it was installed and the customer is not happy! And they charged him thousands of dollars to install it!
Edward will you go over there and give it a try? I said, what makes you think I can fix it when your top tech's couldn't? I was getting pretty good with the 80% furnaces, but I wasnt taking calls for 90%'ers because I wasnt that good yet....He said, I dont know Ed just go try, a different set of eyes, maybe they missed something? So I said ok but I wasnt feeling very confident. So I went over and took the cover off and turned it on so it'd fire up and I watched it fire up. The electronic ignitor is on one side of the burners and the flame sensor is on the other side. Three burners lit and it paused. It had two more burners to light and they werent lighting, then they did light but it was just as the machine shut it down. It only gets 5 or 7 seconds to prove the flame or it shuts down. I pulled out the 4th burner that didnt light and the gas carryover slot was pinched shut and interfered with gas flow and burner ignition. I had it diagnosed in about 30 seconds and repaired in less than 5 minutes! (I got lucky!)
I went back upstairs to the customer and he is steaming mad and asking me about having the unit taken back out and refunded and stuff and I'm like whoa, it's fixed....And he said you werent down there long enough to fix it! It didnt take long to show him and that guy was so elated! He was in awe of me and saw me as some sort of superman tech, lol. Because 6 guys couldnt make it work and I fixed it instantly. I saved the guy from his discomfort. I saved the company from their embarrassment and from having to give a refund and pay men to go uninstall it! I got a big atta boy back at the shop but no bonus, no raise, I got my paycheck for the hours. And so what? I am a Technician, that's what we do. So I only performed my Duties as a Tech like I knew would be expected of me when I signed on with the company. I didnt expect to get hired and then not have to do anything. Oh you would have to pay me above my salary to actually go fix something....Lol! What kind of man is that? I could have told them no I wont go out on a 90% furnace call, I can't do it....If I had said that to them they would be right to fire me.
I made thier top six supertech's who supposedly know everything look dumb. And I was low man on the totem pole! How did I make them look dumb? By doing my duty. I said send me I'll go.
Now I'm not Moses and I'm not David who slew Goliath, but! Neither were they at the time! Moses had over a half million people with him and their backs against a wall of water? How much confidence did he have in that moment? How much confidence did little shepherd boy David have when he first walked onto the field with Goliath?
It's the same situation. David said, I'll go...and he got lucky, but it was more than luck. So it's sort of ludicrous to say, of salvation isnt free. Yes you have to get up off the couch, you would have a duty to say send me, I'll go. And you might face a giant or something you never seen before. But if our actions determine our (fruit) station in Heaven then for those who did less compared with those who did more, one may have a shack on the outskirts of town and the other has a mansion in the center of town?
I used to jump at the chance to cover things for guys. I'll be on call this weekend so you can go do whatever with your family or whatever they had going on or sick or something. It happens. But I liked tinkering with furnaces and desired to be a top tech so I never turned them down when they asked me for extra duty. I made top tech too eventually. I've had two people call me a Master at my trade. That felt good. I aint no Master in the Kingdom of God yet, but the time to work for it is now, while there is time. Extra duty is available in the Kingdom of God. It's money in the bank Brother!
You ever heard of the night watches? You hear them talking about it on old Westerns. Go to sleep, I'll take first watch...like that. There's four watches of the night. 1st watch is from 6pm until 9pm, 2nd watch 9-12, 3rd watch 12-3, 4th watch 3-6, then the sun comes up.
I heard about the watchers in scripture somewhere and so figure there is night watches the Kingdom of God too. Same times during the night. I've actually prayed before would He use me during the night watches. Apparently I aint quite good enough for the night watches yet, lol. Unless he has used me and just isnt letting me remember it?! Because I have a big mouth? I prolly would talk about it. Lol.
