When you hear the phrase, “Let’s Make a Deal,” what do you think of?

• Maybe you think of the television show where people try to trade odd items for unknown items that they hope will be valuable.
• Maybe you think of a used car salesman, trying to convince you to part with some amount of your money in exchange for a car that was supposedly only driven by a little old lady to go to church on Sunday.
• Maybe you think of a stockbroker, trying to get you to invest your money in a can’t-miss opportunity.

In all of the above examples and any other time that you’re offered a deal, what’s happening in general is someone is saying to you, “If you give me that, I’ll give you this.” Of course, in order for the deal to make sense, you have to need or want what’s being offered to you, and you have to be willing to give what you’re being asked for.

Have you ever tried to make a deal with God? If so, perhaps it went something like this:

• God, if you heal my body, I’ll serve you.
• God, if you answer this prayer, I’ll go to church more.
• God, if you help me with this, I’ll give more money to the church (or I’ll start giving money to the church).

What’s the problem with this way of thinking?

Well, for one thing, what’s the likelihood of you following through on your part of the deal after you receive your answered prayer? If you’re not attending church now, will you really start attending regularly? If you’re not donating now, will you really start tithing?

Also, does God really need what you’re offering? Yes, He wants you to serve Him, go to church, donate, etc., but is He going to suffer if you withhold that? Is there any incentive for God to buy your involvement in His kingdom?

The Jews who have come out to witness the crucifixion of Jesus mockingly offer Him sort of a deal:

“If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.” (Matthew 27:42, also see Mark 15:32)

What they’re saying is, “If you perform this magic trick for us, then we’ll believe you’re who you say you are.” Now, if Jesus had miraculously come down from the cross, would these people have followed through and recognized Him as the Son of God? Of course not — they would have written it off to some type of sorcery as they did with His other miracles. And what would Jesus have gained if these particular individuals believed in Him? Not a whole lot. But what would those people have gained? Everything.

This is why it doesn’t make sense to try to make deals with God. He doesn’t need what we’re offering but we desperately need what He’s offering. He has already paid the ultimate price to bring us into His kingdom — He allowed His Son to be crucified. He doesn’t have to give us anything else in exchange for our service. Whatever prayers are answered or miracles are performed are just added gifts from Him, not something being offered to us in order to get us to do something.

Likewise, anything that we might want to do for God is not something we are in a position to demand payment for. What God gives us is a gift. What we do for God has to be a gift as well. We should be so grateful for what God has done for us, that we’re willing to do whatever we can for Him in this life — not to try to repay Him in any way, but just to show our appreciation and love for Him.

So, when it comes to dealing with God, don’t even think about playing Let’s Make a Deal. 

“Freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)