Bargains

 

I like bargains, don’t you?  So, a while back, I went into Tractor Supply (my candy store) and found that they were discontinuing my favorite jeans.  Bummer.  But because they were being discontinued, the prices were slashed.  Cha-ching!  I found two pair that were my waist, but two inches too long.  No problem; I can cut them off.  They were marked down from $24.99 to $14.99 WITH an extra 25% off the ticketed price!  Now, that’s what I call a bargain!  But I have an even better bargain than that!  God gives us eternal life for free!  Jesus Christ has already paid for it.  All we have to do is accept His free gift.  But wait, that’s not all (do I sound like an infomercial?).  Then God gives us the Holy Spirit to motivate, empower, and direct us.  Again, for free!  And when we get to heaven, God will give us a reward for doing what He empowered us to do!  We get everything for free PLUS He gives us a reward in heaven!  Now that’s a real bargain!  I Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Grateful

 

In the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6, we like verse 11 because we are asking God the Father to provide us our “daily bread”.  That’s the part where we get stuff from God.  But sometimes we forget that in the two verses BEFORE the part where we ask for our daily bread, we should recognize God as the owner of everything.  You see, in verse 9 we are to “hallow” God’s name.  “Hallowing” means we recognize God as the King of kings, and in verse 10 and we pray for His “Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.”  So, we revere God as the ruler of us BEFORE we ask Him for stuff.  Years ago, my son had a cockatiel.  The bird loved my son and would whistle for him and sit on his finger.  But my son went away to college, and I took over the care of the bird.  But the bird didn’t like me.  When I reached my hand into the cage to give him food or to change its water, the bird hissed at me as if to bite my hand.  For nine months this went on.  The bird never warmed up to me and never sang for me.  Hey, I was the one providing food and water for that bird!  I gave it heat in the winter and cool air conditioning in the summer.  But the bird loathed me.  It took my food, and it took my water, but it was NEVER grateful or thankful to me.  It took me for granted.  In the bird’s view, I existed only to provide it food and water.  Hey, isn’t that how we are with God?!  We treat God like Santa Claus to give us stuff and to provide us our needs.  But God is to be honored and respected and to be worshiped (hallowed be thy name).  Our life, our world is not about us; it’s all about God.  We exist to give Him glory and praise.  Hey, don’t be ungrateful, like the cockatiel, be grateful to the dear Lord above.  Thank Him today for what He gives you and for who He is … the King of kings and Lord of lords!

Fake?

 

Marleen bought me some new “run faster” sneakers.  They are Sketcher easy on shoes, meaning that they are fake lace-up and fake tongue.  If you look closely, there are loops on the fake tongue and a loop on the heel.   If I pull on both loops with opposite hands, the shoes slip right on. Slick!  Hey, there are fake Christians that are slick too.  They sound like a Christian and they look like a Christian, but they are only a fake. Slick!  II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  Hey, are you a real Christian or a fake? Only you and God know.

In Uniform

 

In 1961, I was hiking in the woods behind my house (which I often did).  Over against a tree a few yards away, a tiny splash of color caught my eye.  I investigated and found an army jacket.  Not unusual for our area because we lived a few miles from the Edgewood Arsenal and the Aberdeen Proving Ground.  There was no one around and no name in the jacket, so I carried it home and it became mine.  I liked it because I felt like it was my army uniform - an exciting prospect for a twelve-year-old boy.  I wore it for three years until it was just too small for me.  A sad day, because I loved that jacket.  Hey, when I am called a “Christian” I am taking on the identity of Jesus Christ.  Actually, “Christian” means “little Christ”.  Luke writes about the followers of Jesus Christ in Acts 11:26, “… And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”  The followers of Jesus Christ were called by His name.  And still, to this day, the followers of Jesus Christ are called “Christians”.  Hey, I am glad to be called a Christian because I am proud to be identified with Christ.  But the question is, is Jesus Christ proud to be identified with me?  I am proud of Jesus, but is He proud of me?  Just like I wore my army jacket with pride, I want to wear the name “Christian” with pride.  Do you?  I trust so.