Someone once told me this story and it has stuck with me for years. There was Bible professor one time who went to an athlete on the university football team and asked him how many push ups he could do. The professor brought the football player into his Bible class along with a box of donuts. The professor went to the first student in the class and asked him if he wanted a donut. After the student said yes the professor looked at the athlete and the athlete dropped and gave him ten push ups. When he finished he gave a donut to the student. The professor went to the next student and did the same thing, and then again and again. At first, the students of the class thought it was funny and found themselves amused. But the class was very large and eventually the football player started to struggle with completing the push ups. Finally when the students saw that he was actually in pain they grew concerned. When the professor came to the next student she said she didn’t want a donut. Each time a student refused a donut the professor looked at the football player and he still dropped and did ten push ups. Even if they didn’t want to receive the gift of the donut the athlete still had to pay the price. At the end of the demonstration the professor looked at the class and said, “The gift of God is free to you. Whether or not you want to receive it doesn’t change the fact that it has already been paid for.” This story is a great reminder of the fact that Jesus died for the sins of everyone and offers salvation as a free gift. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. We can’t volunteer to take His place. We simply have to surrender to His grace and accept it with gratitude. Ephesians 2 also reminds us that we were incredibly unworthy of this gift. We were disobedient and dead in our sin! The only thing we were worthy of was destruction. But because of God’s great love for us he sent his son to die for us. And here we are… God’s workmanship! He has saved us and asks us to respond by carrying out the work he has prepared for us to do! There wasn’t anything we could do to earn our salvation but there is so much we can do to show God how much we appreciate what he has given. How will you show God you love him this week? What are the works that God has prepared for you to do?