Garage Sale Grace by Tami Cinquemani

I just spent the last week with my daughter and her new husband. While I was there, they had a “Newlywed” Garage Sale. Their intent was to clear out everything they no longer wanted or had need for, so their prices were extremely low. Even though this was the case, as is normal with garage “salers”, there was still some haggling that took place.

There are really two different types of “hagglers”. For the first type, the price will just never be low enough. It doesn’t matter if you’re asking ten cents for a brand new iPod Touch, this person would insist there was something wrong with the item and tell you it really wasn’t worth more than five cents. After landing the deal they hoped, they leave feeling quite triumphant – unconcerned by the fact that they took advantage of someone who paid dearly for the item they so proudly now own.

The other type finds an item they desperately want but realizes they just don’t have what is needed to pay the price. Regardless of how cheaply the item may appear to be priced, it’s completely out of their range. It’s situations like these that I find the most rewarding when having a garage sale. The look on someone’s face when you say, “Why don’t you just go ahead and take it. The item is yours – free of charge,” is worth every penny you might have made on the sale. That person leaves with joy, and an instant relationship has been made.

Isaiah 55:1 says, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” The grace and salvation that God offers us is something we could never afford. It is a gift.

For some, this gift is received with arrogance. They haggle a “price” in their head that they’re content with – something they feel they have offered that “landed the deal” – good Christian performance, faithful tithe, etc. The realization of the price that was originally paid for the gift is irrelevant.

And then there are those who come broken, poor, and in full awareness of their pitiful condition. They understand that they are undeserving, and the magnitude of the gift is beyond imagination. Then Jesus offers them what they most desperately need and want as a free gift. They are filled with joy, and a relationship has begun.

Tami Cinquemani