Pastor’s Post
“Bargain Hunting”
A
favorite pastime of my wife and I is to go thrift shopping and bargain hunting.
Whether we are on vacation, or in the city running errands, we try to stop.
Why? We enjoy the hunt; we enjoy the anticipation; we enjoy the thrill of
walking away with a “treasure” someone else didn’t want!
People have left thrift stores with famous
works of art, valuable card collections, or even just a missing piece to the
dinnerware or golf bag. They’ve left stores with a cartful of items they got
90% off of. Wherever they shop, the goal is to find a diamond in the rough
without having to pay full price for it.
Once in a while this treasure is found in a
yard sale. That is actually where I found my biggest treasure yet; $500 worth
of Lego’s for a measly $50. Our two young sons at that time were certainly
happy.
When we come across a bargain for something
that we want, we happily lay down the cash. If we don’t find a bargain, we are
content to let it go, but we have learned that sometimes you have to pay full
price in order to get what we want.
That’s what Jesus did when it came to
us. There were no deals, no two for one
specials, and no discounts. He paid the
full price. There was one asking price, and that price was firm. Jesus didn’t
walk away from the table because the cost was too high.
The Bible tells us that the wages of sin (bad
things we do) is death (Romans 6:23) and we are all guilty (Romans
3:23). That means we die physically, and we die spiritually. We cannot go
to heaven when we pass on from this world. The only way we can have eternity in
heaven is to have someone else, namely Jesus pay the asking price for our
forgiveness.
I Peter 2:24 tells us “He Himself
bore our sins in His own body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live
for righteousness; by His wounds we are healed.” No one else could meet the
asking price for our salvation, so Jesus did. John 3:16 says “For God
so loved the world that He have His one and only Son (Jesus) that
whoever believes (trust, relies on) in Him shall not
perish but have eternal life.” The price has already been paid. Are you
going to trust Jesus for your eternity, or are you waiting for someone else to
come along and rescue you? That next shopper is never going to come along.
It’s springtime, a great time to find
bargains. Remember the next time you are out looking one, be it at Walmart, the
local grocery story, a thrift store, or even a yard sale, keep in mind that I
wish you luck. More important to keep in
mind, is that not everything comes at a discounted price. God paid full price
for you because He loves you and you are worth it.
~Praying for revival,
Pastor Josh