I Just Want My $100

Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way. 1 Kings 1:49

Early in our marriage, my wife and I were on vacation when we encountered an offer we couldn’t refuse. If we sat through a one-hour sales pitch for a timeshare, we’d get a $100 gift card. We didn’t have a lot of money and one hour was a short amount of time to trade for a nice dinner that we couldn’t afford. As the one-hour presentation ended though, it became obvious that the salesman expected us to go tour the timeshares. This would take another couple of hours, which we had no intention of doing. We had zero interest in a timeshare. We simply wanted the $100 and were willing to put in only the minimum amount of effort for it. We were interested in this presentation only as far as it served our purpose and when we were asked to sacrifice more, we were out.

I’ve treated God this way. Growing up in an evangelical tradition, we placed a high emphasis on the gift of salvation. I was rightly taught that I don’t earn my salvation. It’s free. Christ paid the price. With this mindset, it’s easy to see God as I saw that timeshare offer. I get something wonderful at no cost to me. Later though, I began to learn that if my faith is real, it will cost me everything. God wants my whole life. Yes, he had a fantastic new life for me, but to get there, I must surrender the old life. As I began to realize that following Christ meant sacrificing my way, my commitment wavered.

This appears to be what happened to Adonijah’s supporters in today’s passage. In the story, David’s son Adonijah, crowned himself king and prepared a feast in celebration. Lots of people wanted in on the party, reveling with the new king. While this event served their purposes, they were invested. The moment they all realized however, that Solomon was also crowned king, they abandoned Adonijah. While they got something out of it, they were on Adonijah’s side. Once, however, they realized they were part of a rebellion and it may cost them something, they were out.

Salvation is free in the sense that Christ paid the price. I can’t earn it. My only appropriate response though, is to surrender my way to follow Christ. For some of us, this is too much. We want to believe but we don’t want it to cost us anything. What I finally realized though, is that it is no sacrifice to give up that which makes me miserable – the old life – as I gain the freedom, joy, and peace of the new life. Yes, God wants all of me, but in following him, I gain everything.