Few things in life are more unexpected than a free gift – even when you could have expected it! Let me explain. We have been trained by phrases like, “Nothing’s ever free” and “You can’t get something for nothing”. If you’ve ever been told by a telemarketer that you are going to receive an all-expenses-paid trip with absolutely no obligation, you’re already pretty sure that “free” is a term that’s often used lightly.

So, here Tim is – almost halfway through Chapter 8 – face to face with this Man who says He built the Bridge, claims that it’s the only way to enter OneDayBow, and asserts that it’s solely by the mighty King that Tim can have real life now! Oddly, Tim’s hesitation at the Bridge doesn’t have anything to do with doubts of what the Man said, and the Man’s patient waiting for a choice doesn’t indicate indifference. Actually, for this transaction to happen requires two free things: Tim’s freewill and the free gift of the King’s Son.

To say that the gift was unexpected is obvious. Here Tim is with this bag of bobbles, prepared to give them up for the opportunity to cross the Bridge, and what does the Son say? “Have I got a gift for you!” Huh? You mean it’s really true??? You cross the most important Bridge ever made for free?
“There is no cost to cross here. I paid for everything.
I built the Bridge you couldn’t to bring you to the King.
Forgiveness and acceptance are waiting there for you
From the King – My Father. He will make your nooma new.”

But wait, there’s more! (And there really is more!) Free access to the Bridge of all bridges is amazing enough, but did you catch the other gifts? Forgiveness and acceptance from the King! And isn’t that just what Tim had been praying for the night before?! But there’s one more gift, one so amazing that Tim really couldn’t grasp it – yet.

Tim didn’t know how many times the tempter’s tried to lure him into selling his soul… I mean giving up his nooma. The Son didn’t want Tim’s bobbles, and the King didn’t want to empty Tim of his life: He wants to fill Tim with His life! But I’m getting ahead of myself again. First things first. Tim quickly thanks the Son, leaving all the bobbles behind, and sets his foot on the Bridge. Was he scared? Not at all! Okay, maybe for a minute when its curved path turned upside down… but when he realized he was right side up his perspective completely changed. Or, maybe his perspective changed because he was right side up for the first time in his life!

One thing I must say: in the sequence of things, time is really irrelevant. There is no possibility of Tim not meeting the King now. Once he chose the cross road, relying on the Son, Tim was as good as there. The Bridge exists for one purpose: to bring people to the King. That’s why the Son paid the cost. Sounds like Jesus, huh?

“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Salvation is free to us who believe, and we can fully expect this gift of God’s grace in Jesus, because Jesus paid the cost.