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We’ve confused Father God with the Godfather.

Vito Corleone (Marlin Brando), is the legendary godfather, from the famous Francis Ford Coppola film, who said, “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Considered the most famous quotable from the fictional movie. There is something of a fictional legend, that if you give yourself wholeheartedly to the Father God, you might end up tied to a concrete block in the Hudson River.

Unlike the Godfather, Jesus has given us all an offer we can refuse—it’s the offer of abundant life through a dynamic intimate relationship with Father God. He offers this invitation with strings attached. It will cost us nothing and everything.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of the Church…Cheap grace means grace sold on the market…the forgiveness of sins and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices…Grace without price; grace without cost…no contrition is required.” It’s a lifestyle no different from the world. It’s a way of relating to our neighbor that has no attachments to faith and love.

Yet when we read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), we are confronted with the cost of being a wholehearted disciple. Jesus presents God, as our “Father,” twenty times in the sermon. Might this be the secret to the demands of discipleship? It is only through a dynamic intimacy with the Father that we can be His disciples. It’s a daily decision. I want to keep accepting the offer I truly can’t refuse!

Accepting His offer,

Steve

Steve Holt M.A., D.D.

My newest book, Worshipper Warrior, can be found at www.steveholtonline.org

and www.amazon.com