“What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:21-23

Tim Horton’s famous Roll Up The Rim To Win contest has just ended.  It is one of the most successful business campaigns here in Canada causing a frenzy of coffee-buying (as if we’re not already overly indulging in this caffeinated drink) just to get at a chance to win any prize.  Here’s what most people probably don’t know about the contest:

• Approximately 30 million coffee and 12.85 million doughnut prizes were raffled.
• Those who win can choose any size hot beverage, and free doughnut winners can choose any single muffin, cookie or doughnut.
• Overall odds of winning are one-in-six, according to the contest rules.
• Anyone who wins a larger prize (like gift card or vehicle) must hold onto the winning tab, in full, and submit it by mail along with a prize claim form to Tim Hortons.
• Technically, you don’t need to buy a coffee to roll up the rim. Canadians can request a roll-up cup by sending a letter and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to a specified address.
• Prizes must be redeemed by the end of the day on May 8, 2016.
• According to the contest rules: “Potentially winning rim tabs must include the entire prize message printed under the rim. Contest sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to reject any potentially winning rim tab if the prize message is not present in its entirety.
• That’s what happened last year, when a woman from Newfoundland missed out on a $100 gift card because she mailed in the part of the tab with the winning message written on it, but did not save the part with the PIN.
• Information above taken from: http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/roll-up-rules-new-ways-to-claim-tim-hortons-prizes-1.2763304

Free products from earthly marketing campaigns are often forfeited due to fine print – much like many offers that are out there.  In the Bible, God’s offer at eternal life is written in bold print through the blood of Christ.  As we commemorate Easter this year and as a Christian, I started to take inventory of my own life and the things we get for free as part of our relationship with Christ. We have been freed from the oppression and slavery of sin (Romans 6:18). From this, we have been freed from death – it no longer has hold over us (Romans 6:22)!

What also comes from this is that we now have free access to the phenomenal grace that comes from the heavenly throne of God because of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:15). But we have to realize that the freedom we now enjoy did come at a price – the blood of Christ. What we have now is not exactly free but only that we didn’t have to pay for it. To us it’s free because God paid for it with the life of His One and Only Son. So, let’s not waste what we’ve received as free, but rather invest it for His glory.

What we may have received as free means someone else paid for it.