“God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.”

Remember when everything on the internet was free?  There were those at that time who believed that once everything was free that no one would ever pay for anything online.  Guess they were wrong huh?  What we have learned is that unique offerings, great content, great service, and great products sell.  Last week one of the most controversial areas of free versus paid content online got more defined.  Since Napster, the music industry has struggled (fought) free (and for most of the time fought) paid online streaming of music. Finally, there was movement and agreement that to make an equivalent of one album sale there would need to be 1,250 paid streams and 3,750 free streams (those where the consumer accepts advertising instead of paying a subscription).  This means it will take three times the free clicks to be the same as a paid one.  Why is this a big deal?  Well, this summer’s smash hit, Drake’s “Scorpion” launched with 746 million streams and 160,000 copies sold, which under the new formula would be the same as 723,000 albums being sold. In today’s world, this is a huge number! Let’s be sure that there are people who will pay but even those who don’t are important promoters and consumers of what we have to offer.

Jesus paid it all for us. We now are the ones who can stream his love, grace, mercy and salvation to others. If we recognize that we are free because of Him, then we should be doing our best to replicate and share to others what He is doing in our lives. If we are so quick to share and stream the things around us that really in the eternal perspective won’t matter, then what is holding us back today from being His greatest promoter?

Reference: 1 Corinthians 7:23 (New Living Translation)