As I was leaving my apartment the other day, I noticed a beautiful—or at least what I thought to be beautiful—desk by the dumpster. It caught my attention so fast I almost got whiplash. I was awestruck—I had needed a desk for about a year, but I had never been quite able to afford one. I was so excited!

Upon closer examination I couldn't help but notice the beautifully crafted post-consumer particle wood—the awesome feel-good texture of synthetic wood paper. Oh, did I mention the gold plated trim? The gold was so pure it made the room light up.

OK, so maybe I exaggerated a little. The desk probably isn't as cool as I’m making it sound. But it was free, and I was totally stoked that I had received it. I thanked the Lord that somebody's loss was my gain.

You might be asking what this story has to do with anything. Well let's think about it. The Lord is beautiful. Jesus lost his life for our gain.
    
Are we stoked to be Christians? Are we thankful every day for what Jesus did?  

2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

John 3:16-18
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.