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TheDiscipleMD

Free! Free! Free! That word seems to catch the eye of even the most dispassionate person. Just today I was driving down a two-lane highway when a sign on the side of the road caught my eye. It was the big word “free” painted in red on a big plywood sign. I  passed it before I could see “what” was free. Out of curiosity I turned around and drove back to find out. I turned the car around and passed the sign the second time. The sign just said, “FREE” in big letters. It was located outside of a small farm so I assume that whatever was “free” has something to do with farming. I guess I will never know! However, the sign did catch my eye!

Funny how the word “free” strikes such a strong cord in us! Something for nothing! How wonderful! Over my lifetime I have seen that word hundreds of times on signs: splashed over magazines or as a banner across the Internet page I am visiting. It is frequently shouted on the radio, or over the television. Yes, the word “free” is a pretty popular word. Most of the time the word “free” is the lure for the hook that fools us into making a decision benefiting, not us, but the promoter of the word. Somewhere in the promotion of the word “free” there is usually found smaller words explaining that by getting something for “free” we are committing to the giver some right or promise that binds us to them. Sometimes it is a commitment for a short time, to buy some other product or sometimes it is much longer and more expensive than the “free” item. A trap has been laid for those whose greed wants to gain something without any effort. The author of “something for nothing” has lived long before the formation of this world. He is known as the “master of mayhem”, Satan, Lucifer, or the Devil. He goes by many names, but his purposes are the same; to rob us of our agency and eternal life.

How interesting that Satan used the concept of “free” to try to lure us out of our “freedom” or agency. The scriptures tell us:

” I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. But, behold, my Beloved  Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.” (Moses 4:1-4).

There he was, the master deceiver, promoting that he was going to save us, without any effort on our part. I wonder if he broadcast himself on a big screen into each of our pre-mortal homes promoting this “great free gift,” while softly underscoring that we would be subject to him and that it would only cost us our eternal “agency.” So little for something that is free! He must have been a great salesman, because a third of us bought into his “free” plan. We didn’t go for it then, and there is no reason to go for his “free” plan in this life. It is a different stage of our life, but it is the same trick. Today Satan offers all that this life has to give, for ‘nothing,’ or so he says. He even tried this sales pitch on the Savior himself.

“And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” (Luke 4: 5-6).

Fortunately for us the Savior was wise to Satan’s trap, for he responded: “…Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (vs 8) Indeed!

Let us not be deceived by the advertisers of this world, and those not of this world. Nothing in this life is free, or the next. There is always a price to be paid.  Sometimes it is hidden or oft-times it will come due “bye and bye.” This much I am sure of. When I see the word “free” I have learned to be careful. We were not fooled when the “free” plan was offered long ago in the pre-mortal existence. Let us be wise, once again, in rejecting the same “free” plan offered in this life.